Cinnamon Bun Chapter Three Hundred and Forty - Redemption Arc

Chapter Three Hundred and Forty - Redemption Arc

Awa, the, um, Smooth Sailing, Awen proposed.

I thought about it for a mont. It wasnt a bad na. Very sweet. Cute, even! But I wasnt entirely sure if it fit the ship. It was too tallic and sharp for that na, maybe.

And here I thought youd ask to na it sothing like the Roses Lips, or sothing, Amaryllis said.

Awen blushed while a storm of denying awas! escaped her.

Am I missing sothing there? Calamity asked. By the way, clearly this beauty ought to be called sothing properly enticing. The Dagger or maybe the Sky owderer.

Im not sure about that last one, I said. What about the Friend-Ship? I asked.

Vetoed, Amaryllis said. We wont abide pun nas. We could call it sothing like the... hmm, its a warship. The Strongly Worded Letter?

Awen made a noise that was very close to being a huff. Was she trying to get back at Amaryllis? Thats too long. It wouldnt fit on the side. And Broccoli, this is a boat more than a ship.

Im guessing the Friendboat is out too? I asked.

I got three nods in reply.

We need sothing a bit more fierce than that, Calamity said. Like so sorta predatory animal?

The Angry Moose? I tried.

Amaryllis frowned. What in the World is a moose?

Is it like a mouse? Awen asked.

I shook my head and gave up on the na. No, nevermind.

Well, how about the Herowne? Calamity asked. Its the na of this girl I was sweet on for a while.

Lets not na our new boat after one of your no doubt many failed romantic conquests, Amaryllis said.

Maybe we can na it after sothing it is? I asked. I trimd the sails a bit. We were picking up so speed, but I was pretty sure we didnt want to be moving quite so quickly.

Awen clapped her hands. Ah! I know. It was a pirate boat before, wasnt it? And now its ours, and were the opposite of pirates. Or near enough. So the vessels being reford. We could call it the Redemption!

Thats properly intimidating, Calamity said. I vote aye on that one.

Amaryllis considered it for a mont before replying. Its suitable.

I like it! I chid in. It was also nice that everyone seed to agree about the ships na too.

With that done, we got back to work piloting the newly nad Redemptionacross the grassy plains. Awen stood fixed at the back of the wheel for a while while testing the various controls, but eventually she called over to take the wheel. I had the Captaining skill, which was the only airship-related skill anyone in our group had, at least as far as piloting a ship went.

It didnt take long for to get a hang of the controls. They reminded a bit of a cars, actually, but without the foot-pedals. There were airbrakes in the form of flaps that could be pulled up, and the throttle wasnt any more complicated than the throttle on a riding lawn-mower.

Amaryllis and Awen checked our position, with Calamity giving a few pointers towards local landmarks, and then we turned south and west a bit, straight towards the hunters camp.

If we were going to keep the ship, we obviously needed to get the ponies sowhere safe, and wed need supplies in any case. Once we were prepared, we could head back out and et our sylph friends up in the air and figure out where to go from there.

I was a smidge worried about that last part, actually.

The diplomats had been taken by pirates. Actual, hardened pirates. They hadnt issued any ransoms that I knew of, which was worriso. Were they being treated well? Theyd better be! Pirates were cool and all, but only the nice sort who worked to destabilise an governnts and spread art that was otherwise unavailable.

The Redemption was a pretty nice boat. It didnt fly as evenly as the Beaver Cleaver. I had to fight it to stay even, and every big gust of wind sent us flying off track. Once we skimd a bit close to the top of a hill which had us dialling back the speed, just in case.

Still, it made up for its strange flight characteristics by being pretty zippy and manouvrable. With a practised pilot at the wheel and a few good crewmates, I was certain the Redemption could fly circles around so of the larger airships Id seen.

Smoke ahead and... uh, which one is right? Calamity asked.

Starboard, Amaryllis replied. I see it. About forty degrees, three klicks as the harpy flies. We might want to slow down. I imagine the hunters below would rather we co in slowly and peacefully rather than spook their horses.

A few of them are pretty good shots, Calamity said. Might turn us into pincushions before we have ti to complain.

I pulled back on the throttle until we were basically only moving on montum. I turned us so that we werent pointing right at the hunters camp, which ant I could actually see it. The Redeeds bow was too tall for to see out ahead, which was maybe sothing of a design flaw. As we turned a smidge, Icould make out the camp. Dozens of tents, so carts, and plenty of people moving around, most of them atop a wide hill surrounded by pressed-down grass.

Ahoy! Calamity called as he hung off the side of the boat and waved his hat about.

His pals below shouted back, so waving, others masking their eyes from the sun to see us better as we circled the camp in a tight loop and settled down next to the camp. Awen undid the latch on the anchor and a pair of chains rattled out of the Redeeds rear to hold us in place.

We lowered the landing gear and gently reduced the strength on the gravity generator until the boat touched down with a lurch. I think that went pretty well, for a maiden flight, I said.

It wasnt a maiden flight, Amaryllis said. Unless you consider it this crews in which case... it still wouldnt count.

I puffed my cheeks out. Well, I dont know what it is then, but it went well. The boat handled things with no trouble.

We burned a lot of fuel, Awen said. She closed one of the engine compartnts with a hard thump. We wouldnt have been able to fly for much longer. Maybe another hour or two?

Well have to see about that, Calamity said with a grin. Then he glanced over the railings and grinned. Heya there, Savan! Co to see my brand new ship?

A familiar cat-like head poked up from the edge of the ship. Savan was gripping onto the railing, her legs around one of the anchor chains. Pretty, she said. But you cant eat ships, Calamity.

I know, but I bet you can hunt all sorts of things from the skies, he replied. Is everyone at the camp?

Saven rolled up onto the edge, then bounced to her feet. She looked about as she spoke, obviously curious, Two of the teams arent back yet. We lost a pony to a cockatrice. It stared into its eyes and y was catapulted off when it dropped. But shes fine.

Hah! Idve loved to see that, Calamity said. Too bad about the pony. Speaking of which, want to help unload these three?

With Savan helping us, then the other catpeople and cervid from the camp who ca to loiter around, it wasnt too complicated to unload the ponies. Calamity was the hero of the hour. He told a greatly exaggerated story about us braving the storm and discovering huge destroyed airships, then the four of us valiantly working together to piece the Redemption back into working order.

The story was mostly truthful, at least in the broad strokes. I would have complained, but Calamity was having fun, and his hunter friends seed happy to rib and call him out for exaggerating.

I turned to Amaryllis and Awen once we were all back on firm ground. Now what? I asked.

Now we ensure that no one steals our ship from us without proper remuneration, Amaryllis said. And we need to relay our location to the sylph again. They might not want to et in a place with so many strangers.

We could hunt for more clues, Awen suggested.

We turned to her, and she squird.

"We know the diplomats were attacked by pirates, but at that point the trail goes cold."

That seems like a good idea to , I said. We need supplies, too.

I can help with that. The three of us jumped and turned to find Savan standing really close to us. She grinned. I know where to find all the stuff. What are you looking for?

Uh, fuel, mostly, Awen said.

Savan blinked. I dont know how to find that stuff, she admitted. But I know the people to ask. Co on!

With that, Savan led us towards the camp proper. It was a loose collection of tents, so large, so small, with a few buildings made of wood and tarps set up here and there and so carriages parked on the flatter ground that had little hos built atop them. It looked like a few of those more temporary buildings had been knocked down by the storm, but they were being fixed in quick order.

There was a large grazing area to one side surrounded by a picket-and-rope fence where horses and ponies were plucking at the grass, and a few roads cut through the camp. They were all made of stomped dirt, packed down by hundreds of passing hunters.

A few of the temporary buildings stood out. One had a mobile forge in it where a pair of cervid were working the bellows while another held tongs clenching a red-hot bit of tal. Next to that was a small shop with a cat person on a carpet surrounded by things for sale. Finally, Savan brought us to a small general store of sorts. She pushed the tent-flap door aside and stuck her head in. Hello? Do you sell fuel?

We ended up eting a nice elderly human of all things who didnt have much airship fuel, but who did have so oils that Awen said would work in a pinch.

Then we crossed over to a set of tents set downwind of the camp where hunters were working at butchering their catch. They were more than willing to sell us a few tankfuls of grease and fat which Awen had so use for.

We wont have enough to get far, but this is more than what we had to begin with, Awen said as we lugged the tanks back to the airship.

On our way back, we t with Calamity who seed to have tired out his buddies with his stories. Heya. So, are we heading out again?

Not quite yet, Amaryllis said. We wanted to see if anyone here knows anything about the pirates.

Youll want to chat with old lady Three Hooves then, he said with confidence. Co on, she knows everything and everyone. If anyone knows anything, itll be her.

We finished storing what wed picked up on the ship, and Awen volunteered to stay behind. She wanted to turn so of the blubber wed bought into oil, which ant she needed to create a little machine to get everything going.

Calamity led us up the camps hill towards the topmost part where the nicer carriages were parked. One of those had its sides open to reveal an old cervid woman resting on three legs atop a stack of well-worn cushions and blankets. For all her age, she looked like a tough old cookie, especially with the eyepatch covering half her face.

What sorta trouble did you bring here today, Calamity? she asked.

Hello, Three Hooves, he said with a bit of a bow. Just wanted to introduce my new friends. This is Broccoli, and this is Amaryllis. They had a few questions you might be able to get to the bottom of.

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