The Long Road To... - 2. City By The Bay

The final leg of the journey was nearing its end. The ship we were on was due to dock before sunset. Because the journey took slightly longer than expected, the new moon had been two nights before. We were running behind.

Thorn leaned on the rail and dozed lightly.

This morning, we had been planning a trip up to the tundras for when this meeting was over. We both needed some distance from the wars and the tundra lands, with the lawlessness and feigned neutrality, was just the place to go.

I could see the bay opening up and the crumbling statue in the harbor getting larger. This had been an interesting trip, but life would go back to normal, at least as normal as it could be for us.

Colt had had the armband of course. He always liked the shiny, golden stuff and didn’t want to give it up at first. I had offered money, but in the end, a little “friendly” persuasion got the job done. I was even generous enough to leave extra coins in Colt’s greedy, unconscious hand. Thorn was happy to go as I had expected. After talking to him, and using an entirely different form of persuasion, Thorn was on board with the whole endeavor.

Parrot Bay looked exactly like I had remembered: a scene of chaos. Constant rebuilding and renovation made the city seem uncompleted. Every race, ally, and enemy went about everywhere under the watchful eye of the “Bruisers.” Their job was to make sure everyone played nice. There was more money to be had if all sides could come and go in peace. It was in the best interest of the Bruisers to see that things ran smoothly. In event of a scuffle, they were quick and brutal. It was the perfect place for regular enemies to meet and pretend to be civil.

Thorn and I made only the smallest of notice as we passed around to the inn. We went straight up to the bar. A very sour looking innkeeper barely glanced up.

“Get ya sometin?”

“Looking for someone…” I was cut off by a overly loud and overly inebriated…

“My friend, you did come to see me! Welcome to Parrot Bay!” Kjartanei then proceeded to slump over the corner table that he was now, slumped over.

“Really?” asked Thorn.

The innkeeper stared at me.

“Really.” I said to both of them. “How long?”

“ ’Bout tree days,” said a waitress who was passing by. “ ‘e only leave ta piss, an’ ‘ometime na dat! We let ‘im ‘n ‘ere cause ‘e ‘as money. See?” She pointed to the ring in her nose. “From ‘im.”

“Get a room? Sleep it off?” Thorn suggested.

“’E ain’t gone stink one o’r rooms,” interjected the innkeeper. “bad ‘nuff stink ‘ere.”

Thorn slammed down some coins. “For the room, we’ll see he is cleaned up.” We went over to Kjartanei pulled him up.

“Take ‘is shit outta ‘ere.” The waitress pointed at a sack in the corner. “Do ‘em good just throw ‘em an’ ‘is ‘tuff ‘n bay.“ She held her nose gently next to her gaudy nose ring and left to attend another drunken guest.

The innkeeper snapped his fingers and a few Bruisers appeared.

“Two gent’men be escort friend out an’ be return at rooms. All tree be come back, no lose friend.” Then to me: “You two, ‘e one, no can’t someone out ta die. No ta’day.”

I nodded and pulled Kjartanei’s satchel on my back and together with Thorn, half dragged Kjartanei out and onto the dock followed by the Bruisers.

The scene was different now. We caused quite a stir. The two of us dragged the drunk Kjartanei followed by four Bruisers. A crowd formed quickly, anticipating a huge fight or worse. At the edge of the wharf we stopped. The crowd was beginning to pick sides and grow restless.

“By the hands? One, two three!”

We lifted Kjartanei up, our four hands on his two, swung him out over the water, dunked his full body in for a few seconds then pulled him up. The crowd began to laugh and cheer thinking we were taunting him. By the third dunk, they were realizing no one was going to fight and grew disappointed. When we pulled him up the last time, the crowd began to disperse.

“I’m wet.” Kjartanei said drunkenly coherent.

“I know,” Thorn chuckled in reply.

We walked him back inside, passing the innkeeper.

“ ‘ere,” he said throwing some rags at us. “Not say, no care fur ‘r guests.”

I nodded.

“Pay t’ose later.”

Of course.

We walked Kjartanei upstairs to a room and pulled him in shutting the door. Other than the two beat up and unmade beds, the low ceiling, and the bugs on the trash in the corner, we were alone.

“Now what?” Thorn said and raised his eyebrow.

I shrugged. “He’s drunk. Can’t dump him. Wouldn’t remember.”

Thorn thought for a moment. “Here, go downstairs bring back some fresh water, and four beers. I will mix him something. Something to sober him up.”

“With beer?”

Thorn grinned. “No, the beer is for us.”

~ ~ ~

When I returned, I found Kjartanei propped up in the bed stripped out of his wet clothes and Thorn helping him dry off. The blue markings were all over his body. I had not realized how extensive the tattoos were.

I finished spreading the wet clothes out to dry where I could while Thorn mixed some concoction up and Kjartanei moaned softly not entirely awake. We finally got him to drink some of it before tucking him in to finish sleeping it off. Sitting in the hall, we drank the beer and ate from our own provisions. We switched to speaking in our own language.

“I think he needs help right now…” began Thorn. “…from his mumbling, it sounds bad.”

“What?”

“He was saying something about being alone… no place to go home to… no one left…”

“His kin killed?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“His family, anything?”

He only shrugged.

“Get him sober. We can head out.”

“No, I don’t think so…”

I looked at Thorn and could tell by the look in his eyes that he had already made his mind up.

“He is wounded. In here or here or both,” he said pointing to his head and heart. “You sensed something when you crossed paths, enough to actually make that promise. I feel something too. It’s different, maybe it’s me. Just something about him.” Thorn stared me down into agreeing. It was easy. Thorn’s heart was so pure, that was just one of the reasons I stayed with him.

“Keep him as pet? What next then?”

Thorn frowned back and then realized it was a joke and chuckled. “I don’t know, you are the planner.” He winked.

“Planning to sleep.”

Thorn laughed again and grinned. “And how are you planning on doing that?”

We went into the room. Kjartanei was out cold. We pushed the second bed next to his making one huge bed for three. It would be tight, but there was no way two would fit on one bed alone and with the condition of the floor, sleeping down there was out of the question. I wasn’t going to give any more of my money to that sour innkeeper than I had to.

We stripped down and climbed in. Once settled, I squeezed Thorn’s hand and rolled over onto my side.