Catching Up

by Mark Kung and David Lanzafame, 9/3/19

After many a frustrating night lurking in many an unseemly pub in the Dock Ward, Fiego was beginning to worry about Sly. Ever since she had disappeared in the middle of delving into a dragon's lair, Fiego had been searching for her. He had spent a few nights watching the apartment she shared with Lyra, but had not caught sight of the thief and so he paid an urchin to continue keeping watch while he ventured to other known haunts of the moody teen. After the dozenth seedy bar in the Dock Ward, Fiego was growing mightily sick of watered down grog and was surreptitiously emptying a tankard into the harbor when he caught a lucky break. If he hadn't come outside to dispose of his swill, he wouldn't have seen the shadow of a girl flitting up the side of the alehouse and slipping into what looked like a crack too small for a human to slip through.
Fiego grinned and swung a finely crafted bandore from where it was slung over his back. Quietly picking out an intricate melody, the bard faded from sight. Invisibly, he made his way over to the side of the ramshackle pub. Where Sly slipped up the side of the wall like a greased shadow, Fiego was a bit more acrobatic, hoisting himself up a beam and performing a flip to ascend the roof. He found an entrance cleverly hidden by a loose piece of siding and slipped into the attic of the bar. His elven eyes could pick out the form of his friend sitting in a dusty window, her head down. Relief flooded the nobleman, whatever mysterious force had taken her had returned her seemingly safely back to Waterdeep. Dismissing his spell of invisibility, he gave six quiet knocks to a floorboard in a peculiar pattern, politely announcing himself as an ally in the shorthand signals of thieves and cutpurses, before walking toward her with his hands out.
"Peace, my friend. You are harder to find than ever, but I am relieved to see you hale and whole. I was worried after you disappeared from the dragon's lair."
Sly sheathed the dagger that had materialized in her hand at the sound, the goggles that allowed her to see as well as Fiego in the dark masked her expression.
"You will be disappointed to learn that we came away from that night without a single gold piece, but here ..."
He tossed her a bottle filled with dark liquid.
".. I know these are expensive and you gave yours willingly for the job. I hope this lessens the sting somewhat."
She caught the bottle and recognized it as a potion of invisibility.
"Now ... what happened that night? You disappeared!"
Sly had caught the potion one-handed, with her back turned to Fiego. With flick, the bottle was gone, probably deep inside her bag of holding. Otherwise, she remained unmoved by the bard's appearance. All Fiego could hear, was the subtle, tinkling sound of coins being stacked. "Have you ever been to the Feywild?" ... tink... "I've heard the stories. About how you can get lost, about how you can... lose things." ... tink... "Not a problem for me," she tried a laugh, but it comes out dry. "I don't have much to remember anyways." ... tink.. "But I didn't know..." ... tink... "... that they can make you... remember." ... ti-khhhh... Sly looks out at the fallen stacks of coins, her fist tightens up into a ball. She doesn't even notice the small spider that crawls along the top of her upturned hood. "There's something I have to do."
Fiego's response was immediate. "Should you need me, I will be with you for wherever your journey takes you, my friend. That is .. if I am welcome. I realize some things need to be done alone."

Relations

Protagonists

Fiego Sly

Plot type

Off table scene