Ripples in the Sea - Hunting Safikma (Part I)

[Philomel]

"My lady!"

It had come as an intial call, a cry on the wild murmurings of the seagulls and banter of the lively harbour.

"Matriarch, a letter!"

Into her hand had been slipped a single note of paper, folded five times and then sealed with hot red wax. Two sigils lay on it, one of top of the other, the first having been broken and the second marking it as internal mail. The first was almost undecipherible now, with just a line and angle appearing of what it once was, but the second was clear, still secure. It bore the form of a lily, styalised and elegant, and it noted that it had been given, then closed shut to pass on again in confidence to a single individual, standing on the gangplank of a mighty, three-masted ship.

Quickly, she had broken it, her eyes had scanned the words once - and then she was shouting orders. In no fewer than thirty minutes the great wooden glory was carving it way from the small port town and heading into open sea. A full wind, the proud figurehead of the rearing fox declaring its presence for all to see. And still, the letter clutched in her hand. Her hand, the faun's hand.

The letter that had set her into such a flurry of motion that the ship's crew had worked faster than before.

"One letter and we're sailing away from our best money hoard in two months?" a crew member muttered, dragging on a length of rope. Like all the sailors on the Feisty Fox she was a woman, and unlike all of them she had a secondary job as a whore.

Her companion, who took up the strain of the rope behind her whispered back, "Its from you know who, the guy who came back from the dead. Twice."

"The one she fancies?"

"No, you are thinking of Vaeron."

A confused frown crossed the first sailor's tanned forehead. Over her hair was a kerchief that attempted to protect her face from the sun, but it had been so hot lately. Which had meant that a lot of individuals had wanted to visit the sailing brothel, desperate to be near the coolness of the sea and also have the opportunity to hide beneath the vast decks.

"I thought Vaeron was ... you know," she paused, cautiously throwing a glance around, "... gay."

"And yet he's the father of Princess Celandine? Pah, no way."

"... If you are talking ill of my daughter, please do not behind my back."

Swiftly, the two women spun. Wide eyed and still clutching at the rope they twisted to see the unamused expression of the faun Matriarch, their Matriarch and the one their entire crew and organisation looked up to. Such an inspiration had Philomel become that over three quarters of the Gilded Lily now worshipped Drys, her goddess. It seemed that where Philomel walked, she was divinely blessed, and it had inspired them to begin following the tree goddess, even if their race was created by someone else.

"F-Forgive me, my lady," the first awkwardly said, looking at her in awe. Her hands awkwardly dug nails into the cord. "We uh, I uh ..."

"Were only saying good things," the second butted in, rolling back her shoulders and nodding. She was extremely tall for a female, and bulky, making Philomel consider that she had perhaps giant blood.

"Rae and Huna, right?" Philomel looked from one to the other.

They both nodded.

Philomel smiled slightly. "Right."

There was a tight pause. Rae, the tanned one took a small step forwards. "My lady ... why are we setting off so fast? Has - has Osiris actually summoned us?"

Letting out a short sigh, Philomel twisted around to aim for the stairs that led to the prow of the ship, and there in the figurehead.

"Wait, wait my lady," Huna placed out her hands in plea. She dropped the rope, but thankfully Rae still had a tight enough hold for it not to slip too far. On the other end of the rope the corner of a sail flapped powerfully in the air. "Wait please."

A look of discomfort at the corner of her mouth, but Philomel looked back at them. At the same time a lithe, red-coloured figure jumped onto the wall of the ship and glanced from one to another. He had a long wicked set of sharp teeth in his jaws and a long white-tipped tail that swished to and fro.

Hello, the fox purred.

"Yes, hello darling," Philomel sighed and began to scratch her fox-form earth-spirit companion behind the ears. The two women hid smiles. "What?"

Huna looked back and forth between fox and faun, "Are we in trouble?"

The Matriarch grunted, then shook her head and gave in. Really, all of them were going to find out one way or another. Rumours would begin, circulate and then launch into a full scale enquiry before too long - she knew her crew well enough at least.

"No, but the town of Caerdon is, in Scara Brae," Philomel said as she lowered her shoulder. Veridian, the fox, took a pause before leaping on and winding his form around her neck.

"And ...?"

She breathed in, "And Shinsou has asked us to come. It seems ... well. A sea monster has got there, and we are the only ship he knows nearby that can get there that quickly."