Destiny woke up surprisingly early the next morning, with a splitting headache. Her memories of the night before were clear up to the point where they returned to the bar, but after that they took on a rather fuzzy quality. Probably to do with the amount of ale she’d consumed, especially considering she had never really drank much alcohol before.
Groaning as she dragged herself out of the oh-so-warm and comfortable bed, Destiny found that her balance was better than she’d feared. Barely any dizziness or even nauseau, just the pain shooting from her temples. And an overwhelming need to use the restroom. She lurched across the room to the small door that led to the toilet, cursing her stiff and sore muscles the whole way.
By the time she’d finished in the bathroom, she felt like a new cat. The hot shower had soothed her aching muscles, and brushing her teeth had managed to get rid of the icky morning breath feeling. Kida was still fast asleep so, careful to move as quietly as possible, Destiny got dressed and slipped out the door, padding down the stairs to the dining room. A silent wave to the sleepy cook had him bringing her a plate of eggs, bacon, and pancakes, and she dug in with a healthy appetite.
She was not the only one in the main room of the inn, even this early in the morning. Across the room, the mercenary girl that Kida had taken such a dislike to was nursing a large mug of coffee, looking entirely miserable. After Destiny finished her plate of breakfast, she picked up her own mug of coffee and joined the girl at her table.
“It’s Kiri, right? I’m Destiny.” she said by way of introduction.
“Mmm,” was all the other girl replied. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she kept squinting as if the light was painful.
“You know, you should drink water, not coffee. It’ll help more.”
That just earned her a glare. Oddly enough, despite Kiri’s antisocial behavior and tough exterior, Destiny found she actually somewhat liked the other girl. Kida may have been her best friend since childhood, but the angel could be rather haughty at times, especially when it came to her swords. After seeing Kiri match wits with her the day before, Destiny knew that - given the chance - she could get along with her. Maybe even be friends.
Unfortunately, Kiri did not seem particularly interested in becoming friends at the moment. Without another word - or grunt, for that matter - she shoved her chair back and stood up, swaying slightly.
“‘M goin’ back t’bed…” she muttered, and attempted to make her way to the stairs, only to trip and nearly fall over her own feet after a few steps. Sighing, Destiny reluctantly set down her coffee and went to help the disoriented girl. Together, they managed to make it up the stairs, Kiri leaning heavily on Destiny for support the entire way, Destiny barely managing to keep her footing. When they finally made it to Kiri’s room, Destiny had to wait while she fumbled for her key and unlocked the door.
“Thanks…” Kiri mumbled, pushing away from Destiny - and making her stumble in the process - to propel herself into her room. Destiny watched her go, debating whether she ought to follow and make sure Kiri actually made it to her bed. She pondered a moment too long, though, and the door swung shut with a definitive click, locking her out. Giving a resigned shrug, Destiny decided she’d better return to her room as well. Kida would be waking up soon, and they needed to leave before too long if they were to catch the ferry over to Blowin, the wizard city situated on the island in the middle of the bay. Even though they had met Midas, the noticeable lack of information he’d provided them with had led to them deciding over dinner the night before to continue with their plan to visit Blowin. A wizard as powerful as Midas would certainly have a reputation, and they hoped that what others said about him would prove more illuminating than what he said about himself.
Kiri lay sprawled on her bed, doing her absolute best to forget the fact that she existed. Maybe if she didn’t exist, her head would stop trying to turn itself inside out. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t, because then she’d be nonexistent with a hangover, which would - probably - be worse. Then again… gah. Existential thinking with a hangover did not work very well. It had been at least two hours since she’d come back upstairs with Destiny’s help. She had in fact made it to her bed, but not under the covers, or even out of her boots. Sleep had been elusive, due mostly to the half gallon of coffee she’d consumed. Still, she refused to give up, burrowing deeper into the pile of pillows at the top of the bed.
Right at that moment, a hand landed on her shoulder and began shaking her violently. Kiri cursed eloquently and grabbed a pillow, swinging it in the general direction of the owner of the hand. It connected with a satisfying thwack, and her attacker let out a squeal. Ah, Renee then, not Derek. In fact, now that she was more alert, she could hear the other mercenary’s snores still coming from the couch in the other room.
She rolled over and fixed Renee with a glare that would have stopped a rampaging elephant in its tracks. It made Renee giggle. Kiri gave up and sat up in bed.
“Why. Are you waking. Me up?”
“Because, silly, the sun is up! You promised we would have fun today!”
Kiri squinted against the barrage of cheerfulness emitting like sunshine from the hyperactive angel. “What are you, a three-year-old?” she snapped. Refusing the be dismayed, Renee flopped down on the bed next to her.
“Nope. I’m just a morning person. Come on, good buddy! I want to go to the beach today.”
With a resigned groan, Kiri managed to drag herself out of bed, to Renee’s delight. She did feel somewhat better than she had earlier, but was now stuck with a raging thirst. The ninja had been right, she should have had water instead of coffee. Oh well.
After filling a glass with water from the sink, chugging it, filling it again, chugging that one too, then filling it a third time, she began looking through the drawers for a pen and paper. When her search proved successful, she scrawled a quick note for Derek.
Gone scouting with Renee. Will be around the beach/docks. Come find us when you wake up - Kiri.
“Come on, come on good buddy! Let’s gooooo! We can go swimming! No, it’s too cold for that… we can build a sandcastle! I wonder if they have parasailing here. I used to parasail all the time back home in Port Antil, it’s a lot of fun…” Renee continued to ramble, but Kiri tuned her out. She checked her reflection in the mirror, halfheartedly running her hands through her hair. It was perpetually messy, which was why she kept it short enough that it didn’t matter. For that matter, it was just about time for another haircut.
Satisfied that she looked at least mostly human, she allowed Renee to drag her out the door, down the stairs at breakneck speed, and out into the bright midmorning sunshine. Kiri silently blessed the glasses of water for alleviating her hangover. She knew full well the sunshine would have been excruciating, instead of merely annoying, had she failed to hydrate.
Renee was quickly navigating them through the streets of Lumo Bay towards the beach. The sounds and smells of the water were growing ever stronger. Kiri decided now was the time to take control, and reached into her pocket for a few pieces of gold.
“Hey, Renee, hang on for a second. Here, take these.” Kiri dropped ten gold pieces in her hand. “Go find something fun to do, meet me at the marina in an hour and we’ll go parasailing, ok?”
“Ok!” Renee carolled happily. Clearly she was not one to turn down money, or the prospect of fun, considering how fast she skipped away into the crowd. Kiri watched her go, grinning in spite of herself. The angel’s joy in life was an infectious one, despite how annoying it could be at times. But now it was time for business. There was a reason Kiri wanted to go to the docks.
Fortunately, said docks were very easy to find. Once she reached the street that ran parallel to the beach, it was a simple matter of following the signs. Lumo Bay was not a major port, but it did have a thriving population of local fisherman and tourist boats. There was a regular ferry that ran to Blowin twice a day, and it was to the long wooden pier where it was tied up that Kiri headed to first. She found the captain leaning against one of the wooden tie-off posts, puffing rings of smoke from his long pipe. The crew was busy tidying the deck, and it appeared that they had just returned from their first trip of the day.
Approaching the captain, Kiri smiled pleasantly. “Hello there, I take it you’re the cap’n of this fine ship?”
“That I am, miss, that I am. Finest ferry this side of C-Prime, you won’t find a smoother ride in Lumo Bay.”
“I don’t doubt it, sir. Now, I may be interested in crossing at some point - and if I do, I’ll surely come to you for passage - but right now I’m looking for information.” Kiri took out a gold piece and flipped it with her thumb, catching it neatly, then catching the captain’s eye to make her point clear. He watched her with a smile.
“What sort of information?”
“Nothing too tricky. Was just wondering if anyone… peculiar had crossed in the past day or so.”
The man thought for a moment, then perked up. Kiri allowed herself a moment of hope - had he seen Midas?
“There sure was! A cat and an angel, earlier today. They caught my eye ‘cause they were clearly not from around here. Country folk, y’know. The angel, she had herself a mighty nice pair of swords, and the cat walked like one’a them ninja folk from out east.” He chewed on the end of his pipe thoughtfully.
Kiri frowned. So Kida and her cat friend had crossed to Blowin. That wasn’t too surprising… but did they know something she didn’t? Now that she thought about it, Midas wouldn’t seem all that peculiar. He looked mostly like any other wizard, and wizards going to Blowin was decidedly unremarkable. It would be best to follow them, in any case.
“Thanks for the tip,” she said, tossing the coin to the captain, who caught it deftly and pocketed it. “When’s the next ferry ride over?”
“Not till tonight, ‘round six o’clock.”
“I’ll be here. Thanks again!”
She jogged down the pier back to the firm ground of the beach. That had certainly been productive. More so than she’d been expecting, even. But there were more ships to visit, and more captains to question, in the rest of the hour she had free.
By the time Renee rejoined her, Kiri was a dozen gold pieces poorer, and not a bit of information richer. The only tip she’d had was the first one from the ferry captain. Needless to say, she was in a sour mood, and Renee had to drag her over to the pleasure boat area of the docks. Sure enough, there were a few different boats taking people out parasailing. Not in the mood for that sort of fun, Kiri simply paid the driver of one of them to take Renee out, and watched morosely from shore.
The only consolation she had was the knowledge that the day had not been a total loss. She had a lead, if a slim one. They’d meet up with Derek later in the afternoon, then catch the ferry over to Blowin and find Kida and her friend, Destiny. After that, well… Kiri had ways of getting information out of people besides money. She’d use every trick she knew, if it proved necessary.
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