WHO: Liber and Rhilander WHAT: Liber in a grief mess is saved from his uncharacteristically subpar planning by Rhilander and Rose. WHEN: In the evening, when people retreated. WHERE: The docks and the sea WARNINGS: Violence, some suggestive content, drinking NOTES: Complete!
This was dumb, his logical, reptilian hindbrain informed him with brutal efficiency as he watched the ships scoot away. It would take something big to catch up with them, and many had already committed suicide at being even near caught, so why would he manage? Why would he be able to catch them?
A useless task, with no new tactics. Only an insane man tries the same thing and expects a different result.
But he wasn’t running towards them, he was running away from the castle, and his father’s corpse, and his siblings’ voices and grief.
And he’d never been so happy to see… “Rose!” Racing down the docks already. “Rhy! Feel like doing something ill-fated and poorly planned with me?” He’d leap if he could make it, scramble up the outside of the shell, get closer.
Rose and Rhilander waited close to the docks. Close enough to use Rose’s flipper as a plank. Rhilander wasn’t completely happy with the idea of chasing off after Ashelle’s attackers, however it was Liber who asked and Rhilander had exactly two weakness - Rose and Liber. Three if you counted caramel candy. He did not.
Following Liber up Rose’s flipper, Rhilander chuckled. “Well, I have nothing else to do now that the cargo’s been unloaded.” He flashed a smile that was strained a bit around the edges.
This is silly, Liber, Rose said to them both with all the practicality of a being old enough to have seen civilizations fall down. You should both stay here and be safe.
Rhilander opened the hatch in Rose’s shell that led down below.
“I definitely should.” Liber agreed with Rose. “I should stay here, in port, maybe drink.”
A pause. “But if I can track them down, and I didn’t try, I would regret it for the rest of my - hopefully very long - life. If we could know who they are, we would know who…” He sucked in a breath. Rhilander probably didn’t know, did he? Everything had been closed to the royals. Had it been cried from a tower somewhere? A numb sort of amusement rose in the back of his mind, morbid, and he shoved it down and said with a crooked, sad sort of smile: “The king is gone. As you might know, I don’t know. Dead, he’s dead. And these invaders? Had something to do with it.” The king, he said. Not his father. It felt too odd to say that, to say his father was dead.
“I -- didn’t. What…?” The concept of the King being dead was one that Rhilander’s mind refused to recognize. It wasn’t possible. It simply wasn’t. “Liber, I’m sorry.” What a stupid thing to say, but those were the words often spoke as a means of saying a number of things in a few words versus many.
Rhilander reached over, clamping one hand on Liber’s shoulders. “Then if you need to track them down, we track them down.” And hopefully not die in the process. Rose spoke to Rhilander alone this time. We will protect him. That was all the assurance Rhilander needed.
His eyes flickered for a second at the sympathy - he did not cry. He did not know if he would cry. But he didn’t twist back from the solid weight of Rhilander’s hands on his shoulders. Keeping him on the ground - or was it grounded? He breathed out, and without thinking, leaned forward, setting his forehead on Rhilander’s shoulder.
Only for an instant before he was moving again.
“We must fly fast. They flee because their deed has been discovered.” Drawing away, heading to see. “Pinpoint one, I’ll board, you two can hang back. I wouldn’t risk you further for something that is notably ill-strategized.”
That one second of contact was enough. Self-preservation ranked high on Rhilander’s list of necessities - generally the first - but Liber needed this and that was all the explanation Rhilander needed.
“Then let’s go.” Motioning Liber down the stairs, Rhilander followed and secured the hatch. Focusing his thoughts, Rhilander sent a simple one to Rose: Let’s go.
The turtle pushed off the shoreline and sank beneath the waters of the bay and surged forward. The crew, used to Rose’s speed, never lost stride. “So, what do you want to do when we catch up to them?”
“I’ll toss myself onto their ship and try to capture one, hog-tie them and toss them back.” Like this was not a kamikaze mission-style test of his own abilities in any way. Liber would go down the stairs all the same, keeping pace with Rhilander as he moved. “You’ll stay back, I’ll signal you when I’m coming back. If things go badly in the sense I think I’m going to end up murdered, I’ll dive and swim for you and you’ll grab me that way?”
This was not well thought-out. Especially not for Liber, who, despite his tendency to drink, and party, and laugh off the future….always had thought everything out underneath that. He was good, generally, at thinking things out.
Despite this plan.
“Okay, let’s backtrack that just a bit.” Rhilander said with a touch of alarm. “Instead of you throwing yourself onto the deck of ship filled with people that want to kill you, let’s slow one of the ships down.” Rhilander curved a hand under his chin in thought.
It would be easy for me nip a whole in the hull. Rose supplied to them.
“Yeah, and once the ship lags behind the rest, she can flip it. Easier targets.”
I agree with Rhilander. You are two-legged and squishy. I can put myself between the other ships and the one we strand. You will not be as exposed to fatal injury. For once, Rhilander couldn’t argue with Rose’s mother-henning.
It was a much better plan. To Liber’s credit, he didn’t try to stick to his stinker of a plan, and instead rubbed his face. “Disable it, flip it, try and pick them out of the water one by one does sound...significantly less likely to cause me permanent physical injury.” And/or death. He rubbed his face a little harder, just for a second, then said: “Will it expose you too much?” Rhilander knew Rose and her capabilities better than anyone.
And it was Rhilander, with his developed sense of self preservation - so he trusted him not to lie.
“Nah, We’ve got enough weapons to return fire and Rose can always sink the rest of them if they decide to play.” If they were running, Rhilander didn’t expect they would. Turning to fight Rose would slow them down.
“Wait. You guys couldn’t snag any during the attack?”
“No.” A pause, and then he realized it was Rhilander, and Rhilander had done the smart thing, mostly, and stayed the fuck out of it. “Mira, Sebastian, Cedar, and I gave chase and fought. A man with a cult claiming to be our brother arrived - claiming he’d been called. We had all been called, with letters saying the king was ill. The invaders refused capture; murdered themselves as soon as it became an inevitability. We have no information on who sent them, they bear no insignia and answer no questions. And then Lintu found…” A pause, a breath. “Found him, dead. As soon as he found him, the invaders turned to run.” The him was obvious - the king. “As if they knew what happened. Or perhaps had wards set to notify them.”
Rhilander couldn’t help but take a step back under the sheer enormity of the whole situation. “Holy fucking shit.” He reached up and rubbed his eyes. Fighting pirates was one thing; fighting fanatics that would commit suicide was something else. “You catch all that, Rose?”
Yes. They are stupid fleshies. And I will knock them unconscious if I can. Well, that was one way of putting it. Then Rose added: And after it is over, Liber, you will stay with us so you will be safe while you rest. The turtle’s voice was not without sympathy, but it was also stern.
“I can’t disagree with her.” Worry colored Rhilander’s voice. Liber was here and standing but the events were enough to shake anyone.
“Ta-da.” Was a weak joke from Liber, paired with a tiny wiggle of fingers. “I’ll stay with you for awhile, then head back to the castle. Bunker down.” Agreement, though. No more running off alone. A breath out. “Are we in our approach?” Turning his thoughts back to the present, to the task at hand, to doing something rather than stewing.
We are. Tell everyone to brace themselves. Rhilander called out immediately to the crew and everyone sat in low slung chairs or tied themselves to railings for just that purpose. Rhilander strapped the belt around his waist and looked at Liber.
“Here we go.” This was, a part of Rhilander’s mind insisted, incredibly stupid. You run from fights, engaging only when necessary. You don’t chase them.
The turtle rolled to her side as she snapped into the enemy ship’s hull from below. The crunch and splintering of wood echoed inside her shell like a low thrum of many drum beats. Then came the feeling of one’s stomach sinking into one’s shoes as Rose dove quickly into the deep to avoid detection.
On the surface, her actions caused nary a ripple.
Tense minutes past as they wait for the enemy ship to slow and to see what the others might do.
"The main force continues on and is far enough ahead that we can safely engage the lagging ship.” Rhilander looked at Liber. “Just give the word.”
“Rose is beautiful. Have I told her how beautiful she is lately? She’s absolutely beautiful.” Liber almost sang, and it was better. Better than thinking, and lingering, and kicking around the castle trying to figure things out. It felt better, the burst of adrenaline, of not-thought, and it showed on his face. “Engage. Tip it.”
Felt like power, and that felt good too.
The sound of Rose’s shell upending the enemy ship vibrated low and loud. She swung away to position herself between the rest of the fleet and the lone ship. We have surfaced. She announced to Liber and Rhilander.
“All right, everybody, up top. Get the cannons up and trained east. If those fuckers turn around lay into ‘em. I want snipers on the west and divers in the water. Liber will tell you who to go after. The rest of us will lay down cover fire when needed. Move out.”
The crew scrambled into action and Rhilander was right behind them with a rifle up against his shoulder. “All right, it’s your show now.” He said to Liber. “We’ll buy you and the divers the time you need.”
The vibration of Rose against ship was like a thunderclap, and he knew the ship would roll, hang for a moment and then tip. He knew the frenzy of those aboard it - for there had to be frenzy, didn’t there? If they had any heart at all.
Rhilander looked good with the rifle at his shoulder, and Liber’d pause for an instant to take him in, a hairsbreadth of a moment before he was moving again. The problem with the lack of insignia was it made it more difficult to pinpoint a leader, but Liber was driving things forward a moment later. Hidden behind his ready smile and his preference for drinking, this Liber rarely emerged. “Concentrate and overwhelm!” He shouted to the men, and then he was off, trying to focus on those that they could pick out and capture. He would drive the divers, moving faster them as he sliced through the cold water.
It was the same as it had been with Bastian.
When they got close enough to rope them, the men slit their throats, their wrists, killed others close to them. They slipped beneath the waves and didn’t resurface. He would try to capture them from a distance, but even if the men alone could not outstrategize him, they were strong in their zealotry. Powerful in how far they were willing to go. He could see his hope begin to wane as the number of them in the water did.
How could he get to them fast enough to capture them before they died?
“Wing ‘em if you can!” Rhilander called out to the riflemen still standing on Rose’s shell. The trouble Liber and the others were having was blindingly and frighteningly obvious. It was one thing to hear about the attackers killing themselves, it was another to see it displayed. Blood churned in the water and all too soon the fighting was done.
Everyone scrambled back onto Rose and then down below into the safety of her shell.
“Another, Rose. This time try to knock someone unconscious.” Rose didn’t like throwing them into danger again, but the massive turtle sped off after the ships. They managed to separate another one from the pack, but they had no better luck the second time.
“Damn” Rhilander stared down into the wreckage of the ship. Broken boards floated among the bodies. The crew, well used to salvage, pulled up anything that looked like it might be of use. Or possibly identifying. “I’m sorry, Liber.” This wasn’t what the other man had wanted.
Liber was wet. Blood and water, soaked to the bone, by the end. He was, for once, not smiling. He just looked...bleak. Bleak, as he surveyed the wreckage of the two ships, of those that floated amongst the wreckage. After awhile he would sit, but not like he’d made an active choice to sit, more like his knees had decided he no longer needed to stand without consulting the rest of him.
He had nothing, from this. He’d risked Rhilander and Rose and their crew for nothing. He’d return to his siblings with nothing.
It was shaming.
“Hey,” Rhilander said with a small smile as he carefully dropped a towel on Liber’s head and a second later Rhilander started rubbing it back and forth, soaking up errant water. “You had to try. People like that? Willing to die? There’s not much you can do without tranquilizer darts.”
The half-assed attempt at a joke was to cover Rhilander’s own unease at the situation. He’s seen some fucked up shit. Heard of more. This is first time he watched a man gut himself with a piece of broken railing. An uncomfortable shiver laced down his spine.
“Come back to my room, get dry, I think you’ve got a change of clothes back there.” Before he could say anything else, Rose chimed in.
Rhilander is right. If you stay wet you might catch ill and then I will forbid you to leave until you are well again.
“Rose, honey, a little privacy please.” Rhilander sighed. “Sorry.”
Liber would let Rhilander ruffle him, his eyes mostly shutting. “It’s nauseating, that level of zealotry. Someone suggested it might be a spell and that’s...disgusting. If there is a spell, that can force someone to do that against their will.” He tipped his head up, to really look at Rhilander. “I’ve never seen anything like it, Rhy.” A smile, tinged with something a bit more sad. “And I kind of wish I’d gone to my grave without seeing it.”
A roll of his shoulders, but he’d pat Rose’s shell, a light, warm feeling for her before he said. “Clothes, yeah.” There was nothing for it but to move on, right? There was nothing for it but to move forward.
“And something to drink.” Wasn’t particularly joyous.
“Drinks? Drinks I can do. I can also ask Rose to slow roll back to Ashelle.” There wasn’t, to Rhilander’s thinking a need to rush. Liber had his crystal. If anything happened, he’d know immediately and they could get back fast. In lieu of an emergency, or other pressing need, they could delay the return an hour or two.
Or three.
“C’mon.” He flashed a sympathetic, sad smile and slung an arm around Liber’s shoulders as they meandered through the rooms formed beneath Rose’s shell. He opened the door to his personal quarters - a comfortable few spaces that consisted of a small working room with a desk, a bedroom and bathroom. It was a bit cramped, but it had a comfortable couch and a cabinet full of the best booze money could buy. “Go get changed. I’ll take care of the rest.” Rhilander dropped a light kiss on Liber’s neck.
He’d lean loosely into Rhilander, more comfortably. It was easier, to let Rhilander draw him along, to slip into the familiar corridors of the shell. He felt like he could breathe, wrapped in it. He’d disappear and come back in the clothes he’d left - older, but perfectly serviceable linen - with Rhilander, and he’d lean, for a moment, as he came back, to eye the younger man.
“Something that burns?” Was his only real request before he went face down on Rhilander’s bed, rolling after a moment to sprawl and stretch out. He didn’t want to think about his failures. His failures or his father. “It’s like my brain can’t stop coming back to things I’d like it to avoid.” His fingers moving in a slow circle. “It circles, and it circles, and then it lands.”
A crooked smile formed that was a little sad when Liber flopped onto Rhilander’s bed. Turning away, Rhilander rifled through the collection of bottles tucked into carved niches to prevent the rock and sway of boat travel from tipping them over.
“Hm, Varitan scotch. Kicks like a mean bitch.” Picking up the bottle in question and catching two glasses between the fingers of his other hand, Rhilander poured them both a draught. Dark liquid sloshed into the glasses with a familiar, pervasive scent filling up the room. “Here.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, boots braced against the sideboard.
“Here.” He scoot closer, so he was leaning loosely against Rhilander’s back, draping himself there, then offering his glass. “To the glory of those gone.” Was a hum, but he would half-smile at Rhilander too, crooked and a little bit softer. “Thank you.” Was serious in a way Liber rarely was. “For this.” He wasn’t talking about the booze. He was talking about the night.
Reaching up, Rhilander flashed a grin over his shoulder that softened into a small smile. “I get it.” If it had been his crew, Rose, Liber, or Robura, Rhilander would have done the same in the end. “So, you’re welcome is what I’m saying.” And also that Liber owed him no gratitude.
Rhilander took the glass and a long drink. One hand reached up, curling behind Liber’s neck. “It’s a crazy situation and you had to try.” Nor could Rhilander disagree with Liber asking them. Rose was a swimming fortress and against a single ship, she had numerous advantages.
“Is your mom in the city?” Rhildander hoped that she wasn’t. The further away Robura was from the chaos, the better in his mind.
“Yes, but mom is mom. She’s probably holed up somewhere yelling at people because they brought the wrong kind of pillows to her bunker.” A little laugh, and another sip, and then he’d take two long gulps of it. Enough to really feel the burn, the heat trailing down his throat to pool in his stomach. “Get real drunk. Stumble home when it is dark. Sleep forever. Plan?”