KingSweet

Human Compass

Over the next week and a half I watched my newcomers meld with the rest of the crew.  Most of them had acquired mentors, and at any given time the camp rang with the clash of metal on metal from the practice ring.  Their skills were skyrocketing.  Obsidarian even had Cirrun working on his powers, though all he could do was vary the height at which he floated small objects.

Grim and Sparx sparred every day.  Everyone showed up to watch the show, as the two fought like their lives depended on it.  They varied their weapons and fighting style each day, but they remained evenly matched until one of them tired and took a hit.  Narasia was always on hand.  The second day of sparring, Sparx had taken an ax to the stomach, and would have died had we not found the healer in time.

On the other hand, Nyx resiliently avoided the ring, and had instead taken to showing off her knife-throwing abilities whenever it struck her fancy.  In this way Flint went through four different belts and half a dozen shirts.  As captain, I could have told her to leave him alone; but I knew to do so would make his weakness more blatant than it already was.  Even with first year pirates on the crew, Flint was… a tag-a-long. 

I tried not to dwell on it, but his lack of natural ability reflected back to me.  I began to regret ever picking him up as a student.  More than once I tried to pass him along to Obsidarian, but my first mate already had Cirrun as a pupil.  Instead, I began to rouse Flint before the dawn, retreating from the city into the safety of the forest for our swordplay sessions, where progress was made by painful inches each day. This snail’s pace frustrated the both of us, and eventually we returned to the city.  Fully ready or not, I had decided it was time for Flint to attempt a heist on his own. 

I walked him through the stake-out.  We entered an abandoned building close to our camp and crossed the rooftops through the city until we entered Vinyé’s territory. 

The crew appeared stronger than he had last year, festooning a quarter of the city in bright green banners and flags.  Vinyé had accepted many new pirates that year, and had tripled the size of his crew, choosing quantity over quality in his men.  He had even gone so far as to permit five girls into the crew. 

In the heart of the territory, within the winding streets of the unopened armory district, Vinyé resided with the returned core of his crew.  We watched his building for three days, noting where the guards usually resided and when it looked like the crew slept.  On the fourth day, during the shift change when the sun was beginning to set, we were ready.  The building didn’t make for the easiest target, but if Flint succeeded it would prove his merit to the rest of my crew. If not…. they couldn’t look at him much worse. 

“Pick anything” I told him.  “It doesn’t have to be big, or valuable, you only need proof that it belongs to the crew.”

“I’ve got it Captain,” he said.  “I’ll grab something green, a dagger maybe.”

“And rule one?”

“Don’t get caught,” he sighed.  “I know.  We’ve been over it a hundred times.  I can come back and try again, but only if they never know I was there.   Otherwise Captain Vinyé will double the guard and I’ll have to try an easier target.  Can I go now?”

I nodded, biting the inside of my lip instead of wishing my apprentice luck like an anxious parent.  Flint leapt from the rooftop I was laying on to the one Vinyé stayed in, and lowered himself awkwardly onto the second story balcony from the rooftop.  I flinched as his feet hit the floor, silently asking the Griffon to guide him through his mission.  No sooner was Flint out of sight than Sparx climbed up beside me on the rooftop.

“I hope there was an important reason for your following us.” I said.

“I thought it might look bad if your apprentice was killed while you tried to single handedly fight your way through all of Vinyé’s crew in an attempt to stop his execution.  I’m your back up.”