Under The Sundowner Part 10
Under the Sundowner: Part 10
by Prowl-Ar Nightiger
"Anybody have any healing items left?" Dare asked, as he stared at his menu. Everyone could tell his energy was low from the red aura that surrounded him.
Tye sighed, "Try this mental draught."
"What!" Ice yelled, as Dare downed the pink liquid.
"Mmm, tastes like ran ran fizz, but it doesn't seem to have had any effect.
"Check your mission status screen." Ice growled, as she glared at Tye.
"Nope, nothing. Oh, 'recovering from' rather than 'suffering from' amnesia." Dare laughed. "I didn't see that one coming. I guess you kids really are trying to help me. Now seriously, do you have any restoratives left because I'm completely out of power?"
"As a group we have three full recovers and four revives left." Tye said, as he handed one of the recovers to Dare. The other two he gave to Alec and Duo.
"This isn't good. If we loose this boss battle we'll be sent back-".
"And the bounty hunters will catch Dare. Then we'll have to rescue him from them as well. Yeah, I think we all get that. Now shut up and hold still while I use my healing wind to recover your hit points." Alec said, cutting Daniel off before he could let it slip that they hadn't saved in the last town. If they lost, it would also mean that they'd loose the short-wave radio.
Ice walked over to Tye and helped him to his feet. "I don't care how popular you group is, that was playing dirty and you know it." Ice whispered.
"Oh, and making sure that Dare didn't explore that first dungeon wasn't? All I've done is put your game back on track." Tye whispered back.
"Alright everyone, let's finish this section, catch a ride on the airship, and put an ocean between us and the bounty hunters!" Dare yelled, as he ran down the road.
"Hey Tye, as soon as we've crossed the ocean can we split up again? At least until we find the parts we need?" Duo asked, as he watched Dare jump onto the back of a Red Arachni forcing it to skitter head first into a tree.
"I don't think Ice would have it any other way. Now go finish off that spider, and use a revive on Dare, while the rest of us try to finish off the other seven.
* * *
"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" Dare asked, as he practically skipped into the port town of Argo.
"Easy for him maybe, seeing as he spent most of the battle dead." Alec grumbled, as he opened his menu and saved the game.
"Alright, Duo and Daniel, I want you to go and buy four elemental recoveries, three revives, two full heals, and two potions. Alec, find a place where you can watch for the bounty hunters. If they get here before the others finish shopping, skip the supplies and make your way to the port without being seen. I'm going to see about booking passage on the airship." Tye said, as he passed a small bag of coins to Daniel.
"Dare, why don't you go with them. We could use some supplies as well and we wouldn't want them plotting anything behind our backs. I'll stick with their leader here." Ice said, as she grabbed Tye's arm, practically dragging him toward the docks.
"So Tye, you claim to be the leader of a rescue party here to help Dare?"
"That's right, he was on a long-range survey mission when our ship lost contact with him. My team was sent to rescue him."
"If that's so, then why haven't you rescued him yet?"
Tye laughed. "The truth is we've been so busy searching for him, that we haven't really taken the time to find the proper equipment that'll let us contact our ship. Until we find it the best we can do is make sure Dare isn't captured by the real bounty hunters that are chasing him." Tye said, as he opened the door to the Harbor Master's Office.
"Thank you. So once we cross the ocean, if we felt like it, Dare and I could take off and there really wouldn't be anything you could do about it?"
"Don't even think about it. We'll be watching you very closely." Tye said, as he followed Ice into the small building. He stopped and stared at the decor.
The room looked as though someone had collected all the garbage along the shore after a storm and dumped it in the room. At the back, covering most of the wall was a white, winged, fish like creature. Below the stuffed fish was a counter composed of driftwood tied together with bits of dried seaweed. Behind the desk sat the Harbor Master.
The raccoon was dressed in blindingly garish colors. Hot pink poofy pants, held up by a day glow yellow sash, were carefully tucked into white boots stained brown with mud. Orange puffy shirtsleeves seemed to explode out of a purple leather vest covered in ribbons and medals. On his head he wore a lopsided lime tri-corn hat. Eye patches covered both of his eyes, one blue and the other red. Perhaps most upsetting was the dead parrot lizard draped over his shoulder.
"Don' jus' stan' thar'. Whar yer be a wantin'?" The raccoon asked.
"We're lookin' ter, I mean, we're here to book passage on the airship." Tye said, as he glanced at Ice to see her reaction.
"Arr. 'N you'd be want'n Cap'n Umral Silverfox den. Ees liken' ter be fishn' down ter end uh der peer. Jus' be sure'n yer don' go'n mentionin', ees height."
"Thank you for the directions and the warning." Tye said, as he dropped a gold coin on the counter Before following Ice out of the building.
"I swear, if Gauge didn't approve of every last detail of that costume I'm going to make whoever is responsible-" Tye paused trying to think of a fit punishment.
"I agree, it's going to be tough coming up with a punishment for that."
"Excuse me, but are you talking about Master Gauge? If you are then I can assure you that he goes to great lengths to make sure his uniform is perfect. Though a few of us think it might be time for him to get a new parrot lizard." A fisherman said, before winking and turning back to real in his catch.
"Now I'm definitely going to talk with Gauge. There's something fishy about a random stranger giving out information."
Tye laughed. "Yeah, those Mahan moments can really be disconcerting. Ah, that must be Captain Silverfox."
"A four foot nothing, if that, fox with silver fur and wearing a captain's hat. You must be the brains of your group." Ice scoffed.
"I'll wait here while you make arrangements for Dare and yourself." Tye said, with a slight bow.
"Are you being polite or politely saying that we've got to pay our own way?"
"Yes." Tye said, as he smiled and nodded.
Ice shrugged and continued down the peer as Tye leaned against the railing and waited for her to finish.
After several minutes Ice came stomping back. "Captain my tail, that runt is a pirate. Dare better get here soon or I'm going to do something I might regret outside the game."
Tye sighed as he headed down the peer, regretting his decision to let Ice go first. It was highly unlikely that he'd be able to get a good deal.
"So, you with that woman?" Umbral asked, as he cast his line.
"No sir, we just happened to arrive at the same time."
"How unfortunate for you. So, I suppose you want to book passage across the sea as well?"
"Yes sir, for myself and my three companions."
"Four humans, that'll be 4,000 gold coins each, for first class accommodations."
Tye quickly rechecked the group's coin total. "Actually it would be three humans and a panda. Also, do you have any options other than first class?"
"A panda, huh. He'll be an extra 1,000 gold coins since he's heavier than a human. It's all about the weight on an airship, you know. So, what can you afford?"
"Do you have anything available at about half your quote?"
"Aye, that'll get you a single room with four hammocks in the hold. You'll get two meals a day in the crew mess. Your other option would be for a thousand each, two for the panda of course, and you'd work, eat, and bunk with the crew."
"I think we'll splurge on the single room." Tye said, as he transferred the required gold to Umbral's account.
"Good choice." Umbral said, as he reeled in his line. "Now that we've pretty much reached our weight capacity we can-"
"Tye, we've got to go." Alec yelled, as he nearly knocked Tye over the railing. "Seeker's in town and her team is on its way to the port."
"Everything's set, we just have too get aboard." Tye said, as he watched Ice and Dare climb the gangplank.
"Huh, if I'd known there would be this much demand for passage I wouldn't have loaded so much cargo." Umbral said, as the group climbed aboard.
"So this is the runt that has Ice so-".
Tye slapped his hand over Daniel's mouth but he could tell by the look on Umbral's face that it was too late.
* * *
"That's it, I quit!" Daniel yelled, throwing his shovel on the pile of black rocks. "We've been at this for three days straight."
"Quit complaining and get back to work. It's your fault we're down here. If you hadn't ticked off Captain Pipsqueak, we could have relaxed like Ice and Dare." Alec said, as he shoveled more coal into the furnace.
Daniel got up, picked up his shovel, and started working again. "It still isn't fair that we're stuck down here while Duo gets to take it easy in the galley."
"Even if you had a useful skill you'd still be down here. It's just unfortunate that Tye and I have to suffer as well." Alec said, as he leaned on his shovel and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Even if we had skills we'd still be down here." Tye said, as he continued to shovel.
"Why is that?" Alec asked, as he grabbed his canteen.
"Take a good long look at us and tell me what you see."
Daniel and Alec looked at Tye and then at each other for several minutes before they both shrugged and looked back a Tye.
"I still don't get it." Daniel said.
Tye shook his head and shoved his shovel into the coal pile. He walked up to Alec, and gabbed the canteen. He took a long drink and then emptied the rest over his head. The water left dirty rivulets in the coal dust on his back and chest. "Ahh, that's better."
"Are you suffering from heat stroke or something?" Daniel asked.
"He'd better be for wasting my water ration like that." Alec said, as he gritted his teeth.
Tye flexed his muscles and shook his head. "It seems the training at the academy has gotten rather shabby when it comes to observation. So, I guess I'm just going to have to enlighten you."
"Oh please do." Daniel said sarcastically.
"When I look at us, I remember that this is a game. A game, I might remind you, being watched for entertainment. So here we are, three attractive young men, dressed only in shorts and combat boots. We're in the hottest part of the ship, covered in sweat and coal dust, constantly flexing our muscles."
"You're telling me we've just spent four weeks, game time, as eye candy?" Alec asked, as he grabbed his T-shirt and pulled it on.
Daniel slid down the wall into a sitting position and started laughing.
"If it helps I'm betting Seeker's team is also shoveling coal on their steam ship. However, since they're all furs they're likely worse off than we are."
Daniel gasped for breath. "So, the longer we're here being 'hot', the more they end up suffering since they can't arrive before we do?"
Tye closed his eyes, scrunched up his face, bit his lips together, and covered his mouth with his hand desperately trying not to laugh. "I'm glad I'm not on the Runner right now. I just can't wait to see, or at least hear, how Seeker gets even with Umbral without breaking the team's rules." Tye said, after he was able to control the urge to laugh.
Daniel stood up and stretched, making a show of flexing his muscles before grabbing his shovel. "Break time's over. Lets get back to providing the heat to keep this ship moving."
Alec rolled his eyes. "You can provide as much 'heat' as you want but from here on out I'm keeping my shirt on." He said, as he returned to working.
"I doubt we'll be suffering much longer. We should arrive in Port Whitney tomorrow." Tye said, just as a loud whistle sounded through the ship alerting the crew that it was time for shift change. He smiled and saved his game.
"You timed that rather well." Daniel said, as they headed for the galley.
Duo met them as they arrived. Come on, let's call it a day and get some real food." He said as he pushed them toward the exit.
"Something on your mind?" Tye asked once they were out of the VR chamber.
"You don't know how lucky you are. I don't know which is worse; putting up with the crew's complaints, the Ice Queen's outlandish culinary demands, or Captain Mangy Fox's attitude." Dou yelled, as he stormed off toward the bathroom.
Tye glared at the door before turning back toward the VR chamber.
"Uh, are you really going back just because Duo decided he needed the shower first?" Alec asked.
Tye didn't answer. Instead he stopped at the entry and activated the keypad. "Computer, set chamber for full privacy and run the program titled PRX-13."
"Program cannot be activated because this unit is not set up for Master Level."
"Set the chamber at its highest level and run the program PRX-13 at that level." Tye growled.
"Chamber set and program running."
Tye stepped into the chamber followed closely by Alec and Daniel. They were standing on the side of a snow-covered mountain. All around them steam was rising off hot water pools. Even though it was snowing the steam and heated rocks kept it from reaching them. The air, though cool was still comfortable even though they were covered in sweat.
"What are you waiting for?" Tye asked, as he stripped off his clothes and lowered himself into the closest pool. "Oh Gods, that feels good."
Alec looked at Daniel only to discover that he was hopping on one foot fighting to get his boot off. Alec laughed as he followed Tye's example. "Oh yeah, this is much better than a sonic shower." He moaned as the water enveloped him.
Soon Daniel joined them. "I agree this feels great, but how real is it?"
"At this level, if you were to walk out of the chamber, your hair would still be wet and you'd leave a drip trail." Tye said.
"Duo is going to be ticked that he missed this." Alec said, as he leaned back against the smooth stone side.
"Computer, allow Duo Mysticwarrior to enter the chamber, if he comes looking for us. There, now if he can get in and all he has to be jealous about is the fact that we've been here longer." Tye said, as he leaned back and closed his eyes.
* * *
Tye growled to himself as the group slowly made their way down the stairs lining the cliff face. Ice and Dare had been allowed to use the lift, since they were considered first class passengers, while Tye's group was forced to take the stairs.
"This sucks, we worked our tails off to get here as quickly as possible, and then we get treated like baggage." Daniel complained.
"Think again, the baggage is sent down on a cargo lift." Duo said, pointing as it passed the group.
"I should have known, otherwise we'd have been required to carry it down." Daniel muttered.
"Look on the bright side; we're now on a continent that's developed to an early industrial culture, the bounty hunters are three weeks behind us, and the beach looks like an excellent place to spend a couple of days relaxing." Alec said, trying to lighten the mood.
"A couple of days for Dare to get ahead of us and the hunters to catch up." Daniel said, as they finally made it to the cliff base and the main port.
"You may as well forget the beach. We've got to find jobs in order to rebuild our gold levels." Tye said, as he headed into town.
Daniel laughed. "What makes you think we can't do both? For once I have experience that'll land me a good job. I'm going to see if they need a lifeguard for a week or two."
"I guess that just leaves the two of you, because I'm checking out the boardwalk to see if anyone needs a cook." Dou said.
"Well Alec, I guess that leaves any odd jobs up to you."
"I suppose you're going to find the closest bar to take a long nap? I mean listen for rumors."
"Not this time. I'm going to find a library or repair shop and learn as much as I can about steam technology. I'm making sure that flight was the last time my lack of knowledge forces me to drudge in front of a coal furnace. Tye yelled, as he continued into town.
"Great; more odd jobs, mini-quests, and headaches for me as usual." Alec muttered, as he followed Dou toward the boardwalk.
Well, that's it for this story until the muse starts singing again. To keep the continuity in order Prowler has at least two more missions before he can meet with the group. The first is out to the very edge of the galaxy to meet with a bio-technical theocracy in order to keep there technology from the Imperiam and to salvage what is left of Rusty's mind after he inadvertently bonds connects with one of them.
The second mission is as a bodyguard to Dawna as she travels to the Accordia system to take control of Big Hub Station. After meeting with Buck Briarspike he'll meet with the group to decide the best way to deal with Lord Dacat and any other requests the group may have.