"Never Say Die"

It's noon on the 8th day, only hours after the arrival of Amurabi's fleet came in. The relief felt from Anaxa's request to Lord Kestor was felt fleetwide after the dark mood...or at least one would think. The atmosphere aboard the wrecked Feral Chaos was quiet and subdued. The duties of the ship still went on, but the crew having had their baptism of fire...or one could say of Dark Water. The crew's morale had returned to a steady but deathly calm. Captain Edea had only barely stopped the mutiny for now. With Vice Admiral's Altyra's assistance, morale had recovered some. But the events of the past week could not be forgotten so quickly. Though they had all gone, the new crew of the Feral Chaos had sailed into the living tar that came from the Captain's ancestral home. Not even the Captain knew of what had lain beyond the mist. Though not a member of the crew had been lost, the near brush with death had left a heavy mark on the crew. None moreso than the Captain herself.
 
Strumming of the Captain signature kythera could be heard, followed by the loud belching coming from the Captain's cabin. Ever since the wreck upon the island, the Captain had gone about her duties quietly and with little fanfare, her former boisterousness far away. The crew had little to say, just grateful that their captain was not on their back. Though the Quartermaster had had her work cut out for her, making sure that food and water were properly rationed. "You! Stop laying around! The decks need swabbing now!" Gerry yelled at two young crew men. "Hey, Quartermaster, the ship's a wreck! We can't do nothin with..." "I don't wanna hear it! This ship's gonna be fixed and you're gonna sail! Now get cleaning!" "Y...yes, ma'am!" they piped up as they ran off to fill their buckets. "Ugh...malakas..." muttered Gerry. As she strummed, the distinct plinks of a kythera could be heard coming through the air...though they were very out of tune. "Ugh.."Gerry groaned under her breath, the sound of her Captain's 'playing' not helping her mood. She at once stormed over to the Captain's door. The offkey strumming and plucking continued followed by a loud belch from inside. "Spirits damn it all..." she said as she barged in, though she could only take a step in before curling her nose up. The inside smelled like a winery that had an accident. Laying in the corner, surrounded by empty amphoras of wine laid. She strummed randomly while giggling to herself. "Damn it, Eddie...What're you doing? You got a ship to run." Edea let out another loud belch. "Ohhh....hey Gerry...c'mon....lesh hav a drnk!" Gerry gripped her head in frustration. "Edea, you're a damn captain! You gotta get out here and act like one! Altyra and I can only do so much! You gotta lead this damn ship!" "Aww shaddap!" she slurred as she stood up pushing her instrument aside and grabbing her cup and reaching for another amphora...right befiore Gerry snatched it out of her hands. "Aw! Gerry! Don't be lame!" "Nope! No more! Time to sober up! You got work to do!" "No! No! Damn it! I don't wanna be Captain no more!" Edea slurred out as tears came out. Gerry stopped. "Come on, it's not that bad." "Yes it is!" "Ugh...I was gonna save this for later."she said as she pulled out a bottle, "Okay here. This'll get you good and fucked up. But you promise you have to unload it right here." Edea's eyes lit up snatching at the bottle as Gerry lifted it away. "Unh unh!" "Okay, I promish!" Gerry relaxed and let Edea have the bottle. Edea immediately uncorked the bottle and glugged it down. "Mmm that's so good! So sweet! What's this stuff?" "Oh, it's just Zephy's Cure For What Ails Ya! Get it through ya in 30 seconds!" "Whaddaya....oww...ooowww ow!" Edea yelled as a pain shot through her head. "Ow, Gerry! What the hell!" "That's the hangover coming. And then going. Feel better now?"
 
Edea's head swirled for a moment. "Well...yeah. Damn it! What was that?!" "I told you. Zephy's Cure. Cures lots of stuff. About to have a hangover? It's over in 30 seconds. Of course, you get a super massive headache for 30 seconds, but it's gone." "Ahhh," gasped Edea as the last of the sudden hangover subsided, "Oh you know that feathery bitch gets off on that..." "Yeah well. You should be laying off the krasí for awhile...and you better start talking..." Edea looked at her friend, her teeth gritting with her long and sharp fangs pushing through. She only made this face at Gerry when truly angry with her...even moreso when Gerry was completely right. "Fine..." She sat and pulled out a jar of fresh water to pour into a cup and drink. "Because I failed." "What?" "You heard me! I failed!" she said and glugged the water down. "There I was! All set to see my homeland again! The first one of our kind to see it in fifty years! I was like, 'future bards are gonna write songs about this!' and then we break through the fog..." Edea stopped as she glugged the last of the water. "There it was! But no, it's a twisted hellscape! With dark water pouring out of it! Then before I know it, it nearly eats us all alive! Then remember, Richard! Ya know...the one from the Silver Seas? He kinda let a FUCKING MUTINY! And, fuck, I can't blame him! I nearly brought him, me, you, everybody on this tub to their deaths!" Edea yelled as she threw the empty cup against the wall as it dropped and clattered on the floor. "I failed..."Edea muttered trying to hold back tears as her head dropped. "I thought I was gonna return home...maybe find myself and rub this in the old bitch's face. But this was worse than just finding nothing..."
 
"Hey. Come on. You just had a set back is all," said Gerry. "I almost got us all killed. What kinda frontwoman am I. I don't just have my troupe. I got all this crew now too. And I let them down..." "Hey, listen. There's risks with everything. You know that." said Gerry, "We took a risk just leaving Crell like we did. All we had was our instruments and a dream. And now look at us! We bet our souls to get our third member and won the approval of a great spirit for our fourth! And our fifth liked us so much, she convinced a free captain to bring us on! You did that!" Gerry stopped for a moment as Edea looked up at her. "Remember what you and Altyra agreed to?" "Yeah. When it's the troupe, I'm in charge, but when it's the ship, she's in charge." "Yeah...and do you think she woulda let you have a ship if she didn't think you could do it? She would've shut that down in a Citadel minute and you know it." Edea looked back up as she wiped the tears away. "And I wouldn't have followed you all this time. Eddie...I need that crazy thárros just like you need my flawless logikí. We need each other, Eddie......They need you......I need you..." said Gerry, "So...please...if you gotta cry, cry but finish. I love you the most when you're brave and razy. The bard who led me on this crazy odyssey....and I want to see this to the end," said Gerry.
 
Edea stopped and looked down before saying. "There ya go...talking sense into me as usual," she said as she stood up before grabbing her captain's coat and hat, a beautiful gift from Morrigan. "I can't let these nice things go to waste. Besides, we have time now! The ship will be fixed and we got a nice holiday on this gorgeous island!...and if some of the crew wants to go, I'll pay them a full share and send them on their way...they've definitely earned it!" she beamed as she threw them on. "There's my frontwoman!" said Gerry, "Come on. I heard Orri was setting up shop to make us all swimwear." "Oh, does kitty wanna make some guys purr with approval?" teased Edea. "Oh, shut up....ya know didn't Drake say there might be a dungeon on this island? That sounds like something to write a song about!" "Oh, ancient ruin exploring! I'm in for that too!......hey, Gerry...thanks..."
 
The wolf woman hugged the lion woman in a big hug. Everything was gonna be all right.