[Ridge]
"What's this?" I ask as Sileena slips a thick envelope into my pocket as Kadeeth helps me down the stairs of the carriage.
She puts a callused finger to her lips, "For later." She walks past us, clapping her hands together as she steps onto the gangway, "Now! Let's get on with the fun, shall we?" Her sultry voice addresses the crowd of Mercenaries.
The guys help me onto the boat, and we're met with the sight of a passive aggressively smiling Tristan sitting on the deck with her legs folded in front of her. Her eye twitches, and her face gets dark.
"Wow, so nice of you all to hurry back so fast! You must have missed me~" She spits, her tone overly sweet and sarcastic, "I'm really glad you didn't take your time, or keep me tied up out here all day and night!"
I avert my eyes. It's not guilt, okay? I'm just motion sick again. I wouldn't pity this fool, I swear!
Oh, shit wait I can't do that, I'm a Knight.
"And you waited like a good dog." Kadeeth smirks. Tristan's facade breaks.
"Why you little bi-" Sileena gets in between the two, cutting Tristan off.
"Enough. You'll go back to the brig if you don't behave yourself." She points at Kadeeth.
Tristan calms down at Kadeeth being reprimanded, her 'evil under the nice' face slipping back into place, "Hey, are you really supporting this Leena? Aren't we friends~" she sings.
Sileena rolls her eyes, "You fucked up Tristan. Even if you hadn't severely injured our client, you still broke the rules by looting our ships." She snaps her finger, "And don't call me that."
A group of Mercenaries standing nearby spring into action. They tighten the knot around Tristan's ankles, and then tie a knife a few feet down rope. Cony checks to make sure the other end is still securely fastened to the back railing of the boat.
"What?! C'mon, they were unmarked boats! How was I supposed to know?" She half argues, half whines. Sileena ignores her, leaning back against the cabin wall and taking out a pack of sun dried and preserved berries. She casually rips the paper bag open and pops a few in her mouth, watching on as if this is the most entertaining thing she's seen all day.
"Chief, we're all loaded up!" A mercenary calls out, boarding the ship with the last crate of supplies sitting steady on their shoulder.
Sileena nods, "Whenever you're ready, Sir Ridge." She says expectantly.
I look at Tristan, her eyes scream don't do it. Kadeeth's scream bloody murder makes the world go round. Tellur seems almost nostalgic, and Raforn is downright scared. So many mixed signals. Who does the person everyone goes to for help go to when they need advice? Cause I could use some right now.
"I changed my-" I shuffle barely a step forward, pain shoots up my right leg. That shuts me up real quick. I smile through the cramping sensation.
"Ridge...?" Tristan asks hopefully. The hope fades when she sees the newly dawned determination return to my straightened posture.
"Drop her." I smile.
It must be contagious because most of the people around me end up with sick smirks of their own. There's no reason to feel guilty. She'll be fine. She does a job as dangerous as looting everyday, what's a little swim gonna hurt?
"HELL YEAH!" Kadeeth chants, bringing up the morale of everyone looking forward to torturing Tristan. I've noticed that she's not very popular among the GWs, even if she's a highly valued business acquaintance. That's one major difference between her and Kadeeth. Kadeeth is similar to her with his tomfoolery and in the fact that he's an asshole who hides behind his teeth, but he has a charm about him that makes a lot of people want to be his friend.
Meanwhile, Tristan frustrates them. Kadeeth makes people demand his attention, but Tristan just comes off as a fake asshole no matter what she does. Maybe the difference is the Noble upbringing.
Kadeeth has an elegance to him that draws people in, while Tristan repels them with how rough she is. It's all speculation of course, and at the end of the day they're both vermin. Truly the bane of human existence.
I guess there's a personal difference in how I deal with them too. I constantly have the urge to hurt Kadeeth, mostly in the form of my fist in his face, but with Tristan I'm immediately drawn to extreme measures. Vengeance is a powerful motivator. Does that mean if Kadeeth ever wrongs me I'll finally have no qualms about slugging him?
I mean I could arrange for that. All I need is one mess up...
Two large Mercenaries that look like they should be standing guard outside of Morin's Midnights secret arena link elbows with Tristan and start dragging her backwards towards the railing.
She tries to kick and fight back, but her ankles are tied so she can't stand or get away, "Wait, hold on! RIDGE, LETS TALK ABOUT THI- AGH" They easily toss her over the side, her body flipping backwards over the railing so she falls headfirst.
The murmuring starts, "Oh shit!"
"Head first, man."
"Is she even gonna live haha!" Everyone shoves their way to the back of the boat, leaning over the railing to catch a glimpse of the possibly ex-looter.
"HA, she's frickin alive, dude!" Someone calls out, pointing at a spot in the water where a mess of red hair emerges from the growing wake. We've started moving.
Kadeeth is whooping and hollering next to me, and many of the Mercenaries join in, including the usually stiff Sileena. Tristan wipes the water from her eyes, trying to float on her back. When she opens them they lock straight onto mine.
"What were the rules again?" Someone asks the crowd.
"I swear, yer so dumb sometimes." Comes a response.
A gruffer voice chimes in, it's Tellur, "She's either gotta cut the rope and swim to shore, and then she can go on her way, or climb the rope and get back on the boat."
"COURSE THERE'S ALWAYS DROWIN' TOO!" An excited GW yells out. Kadeeth slaps them on the back approvingly.
I won't say I'm not enjoying it, although a part of me feels like this is some kind of cruel punishment Tellur's generation would come up with. The boat picks up more speed, the white tips of the waves roll over Tristan's head as she makes a grab for the knife.
Unfortunately for her, the boat increases speed again and the previously slack rope goes tight, yanking out of her reach and pulling her underwater. There are plenty of people who would've already drowned from something like this, but Tristan doesn't quit.
She visibly clenches all of her muscles and fights against the wake, actually managing to grab the rope using her bound ankles as a guide. She pulls herself up by sheer personal strength, but ignores the knife.
Instead, she uses the fact that her feet are tied together to her advantage, swinging them to wrap the rope around her legs. She sits like that for a minute, suspended in the air, tangled up in the rope while the Mercenaries cheer for her success or failure.
When she's rested and ready she unties the knot holding the knife, earning a collective round of boos and other choice words. She doesn't cut the rope though.
She puts the knife in her mouth and starts to climb, once again finding my eyes in the crowd.
Oh shit.