290821.B

As we all know, Arynn, when she is frustrated of her plans being foiled, acts impulsively. This time was no different.

Invisa-Arynn stalked through the “streets” of The Anchorage with Barrett's office as her destination. She easily slipped inside and found a desk with some drawers. In one she found an array of warrants and bounties along with some maps, and letters. One warrant she recognized was for Quinn Splint, Laurel’s Boson and a rather unsettling bounty set out by the Cowled Wizards that notated the seizure of any Zendai merchant ship without ramifications. She drew both markers in her journal. Some of the letters were unsent love letters and others were written in a code she did not recognize. She transcribed one into her book for later, when Jakrin wakes.

“Hey.” A voice echoes. “What ya doin’ here?”

“I hold no allegiance, only to that of the sea.” Arynn shifted her appearance to that of a water type fey before dropping her Invisibility. She’d obviously been caught, there was no reason to keep it.

“Oh, come on, really? Saw that foxy skin of yours the moment you walked in.”

“Fine. You caught me.” She replied, unable to see the voice’s origin.

“Barrett’s not gonna like this. You didn’t look in the bottom drawer did you? That’s where the good stuff is.”

Sticking her nose in the air, she huffed. “Barrett of all people is going to respect the diligence I have for my party. We are threatened and this island is in danger for us having come here. I’m only ensuring our safety. Show yourself.”

“What? I’m literally right here.” The voice responded.

“Maybe I don’t feel like seeing you.” She caves to the hint dangled earlier and opens the bottom drawer. “So be it, in for a penny, in for a pound.”

She finds a drawer full of crumpled papers. Looking up over the desk she asks the room why they wanted her to look here.

“Barrett keeps the bad poems there.”

What answered at her eye-level had her giggling and squealing in Fey chaos. An animated skull. “Aren’t you precious!? They can’t be that bad, i’ve seen and written some pretty bad ones.”

“Not precious at all. I was once a fierce pirate before Barrett chopped my head off for a paperweight. And they are horrible.”

She giggled again, “Fierce indeed!” she mocked as she sat up on the desk, picked him up and placed him on her knee. “I wanna know everything.”

“Been a while since I’ve been in a ladies lap, hehehe.” He cajoled.

“Now now, fierce or not, I don’t believe you’re in a position to down talk a lady.” She jokingly scolded.

“What are you gonna do? Kill me? I was once Captain Orrin “Whitemane” Farfield, King of the Anchorage. You don’t scare me.”

Arynn saluted him. “Your Grace.”

“Good respect.” He replied.

“Or good conditioning.” She replied through her incessant giggling, winking, she continued. “I bet you see everything he writes, don’t you?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

She gets serious quickly. “Are we in danger from him or does he actually mean to help? Captain Laurel has done us a great service.”

He laughs. “If it’s for Laurel, I’m sure he’ll be helpin’.”

“But the bounties and warrants, the Wizards, he won’t collect?” She pressed.

“Probably.”

She sighed. “Probably is better than nothing… you gonna tell him I was here?”

“Depends.”

“On?” she asked. “I haven’t broken the rules. I didn’t take anything and no one's dead.”

“Truth. Do me a favor then?”

She thinks for a moment, “Depends. Open to negotiate.”

“Can you write? Like good?”

Mildly offended, she replied, "I may be the best writer you’ve ever met.”

“Write the poor bastard one decent poem for the love of the Gods. Maybe then he’ll stop trying.”

She considered for all of two seconds, “ Alright, that is something I can do.” and she pulls out her journal and some ink. “What shall the topic be?”

After a snicker he said, “Love.”

She grinned. “You’re on.” While it may not have been her best work, the elegant scrolling in the corners of the parchment and poem itself should work. “Now where should I leave it?”

“Put it back in the drawer with the others. Perfect. Maybe he’ll shut up and stop trying to write a good one.”

She beamed, proud of herself. “If I wasn’t behaving myself here, I’d put you in my pocket.”

“Barrett would know if I was gone. But I mean, there’s a box in the corner with the other guys. I’ve got the most personality."

Her interest piqued, she whispers, “Can I peek?”

“Keys in my mouth.” He replies.

She squinted her eyes. “You gonna bite me?”

“Try and find out.”

She retrieved the key from the former Pirate King’s mouth and opened the box. “Hey guys.”

She was met with a chorus of “Hi! Hey, Hey hey, Hi!”

“Sorry you’re all heads in a box.” She frowned.

She’s met by a few “All Kings end up here.”

She gasped a la Morbid Disney Princess, “And people say the Fey are barbaric. Erevan would not like this for you.”

“Way of it, way of it, way of it.”

“And you just subsist in this box?”

“How it is, how it is, how it is.”

“This cannot be.” Arynn carefully removed each skull and placed them on a bookshelf.

They bounced happily, “out, out, out!”

“I’m going to teach you all a song, and I think it would be lovely if you sang it to Captain Barrett when he comes in, alright?”

She proceeded to teach her macabre chorus a cute little three line song that went like this:

“Hello, my baby Hello, my darling Hello, my ragtime gal.”

“Wonderful, I think he’ll love it! Well, Captain Orrin, other past Captain Kings, I should take my leave before someone comes looking. I was never here, correct?”

“Never here, never here, never here.”

“Come visit again.” Orrin says.

Arynn bowed and said, “I’d be delighted.” as she faded into her Invisibility. It had been about an hour since she had checked on Jakrin and she wanted to tell him about this even though she didn’t think he could hear her.