Molly Baulch can’t cook to save her life. But that’s just fine by her, if she needed to cook to save her life, she’s fairly confident she could pick it up. Until then, she’s more than happy to watch Kendra work her magic. Molly’s stomach rumbles as she waits and watches. She broods, picking at half-healed burn scabs on her fingers.

“So I told the Captain, and she said she’d rather die. I don’t get it, she trusts me with the ship’s engines, and yeah, that was a big deal. She gave me the whole spiel, ‘The Captain is only as good as her vessel’. I think if she’d been able to move around when I flipped it on her, she’d have smacked me. But I could seriously help her out…”

“You think if she can trust you with her baby, she should be able to trust you with her body?” Kendra asks as she ladles a dollop of piping hot stew into a scratched wooden bowl. “I trust you with the ship, but that doesn’t mean I’d want you fiddling around with my giblets.”

“Course not, you’re all icky biology. I don’t do well with blood. I’m talking about the machinery. It’s just- We need her, Kenny.” Kendra’s mouth tightens. “Forget the job, forget the ship. It’s the Widowgas. Bad enough the whole storming world depends on it, we have a Captain who can’t stand up without it. We’re supposed to be a family, right? That’s what Thunder always says. She’s the dad, you’re the mum, Jonas is the mean uncle everyone purposely forgets to invite to events. It’s a shitty metaphor. Gimme that stew,” Molly begins wolfing down the thick steaming gravy as she speaks, “We need to be able to rely on each other, and how are we supposed to do that if she can be knocked out like this?”

“But she gave up that fuel to get us to safety. It was either that or-”

“-Or we get eaten by the Faeries. I get it. But that’s Evergreen for you. All I’m saying,” she finished around a mouthful of stew. “All I’m saying is that I could at least take a gander at her. Look for a backup plan. I know we don’t get much downtime, but I’m surprised she hasn’t done it herself, she built the bloody thing.”

“You think?”

“I mean, she’s a Builder, that’s Builder tech, and it’s pretty intimately grafted into her body. Things would be pretty messed up if someone else had done that to her, and I for one-”

Molly spits out her stew as the ship vibrates like a tuning fork. There’s a flicker of golden light which seems to race along the outer edge of the room, before with a flash Rico materializes in the galley in front of her. He looks as he always does, short cropped black hair, olive skin, wide eyes, his shirt neatly pressed and tucked into worn trousers.

“Damn Rico! Twice in two days? Buy me a drink next time!” Molly says with a smile, which fades as she sees the distant look of panic in Rico’s eyes. “Oh Shards, what now?”

“Izaac. Izaac Everwright,” Rico says, his voice clear and high. Then he blinks several times. “W-w-w-”

Molly puts the stew down gingerly. “Don’t you go anywhere,” she mutters bitterly, and then turns. “Come on Rico, let’s get you to the Captain.”

* * *

Whiskey doesn’t burn Jonas Blackwater’s throat. It doesn’t have the nerve. It does ease the tension as he sits at the bar, knuckles clenched white around the heavy glass. Fire gleams in his amber eyes as he mutters a silent prayer to the wrathful one.

“Too many bloody questions,” Jonas whispers to the empty glass. Jonas does know one thing for certain, he is definitely not happier than usual, and for that knowledge, he is a little bit grateful.

He sees Lily step out of the kitchen. She looks like she’s meant to be there, a little dusting of her art, a careful nod to the barkeep. Nothing out of the ordinary here. She saunters through the crowd, making her way so inconsequentially towards Jonas that it seems mere happenstance they end up next to each other.

“All good?” she asks quietly. Jonas never was able to get her to tell him how she could do it without moving her lips.

“Not exactly.”

“We’ve been made?”

“Not exactly.”

“Are we clear, then?”

“Not sure exactly.”

“Well shit J, what are you sure about?”

“Too many bloody questions.” Jonas taps his empty glass on the bar and Elfie arrives out of the bustle with more of the same. “We’ve got to get out of here, Lily. What’s the plan?”

“You’ll like it, I think. Only issue is getting it through the docks with them so crowded.” She motions to Elfie and he presents a glass of blood-red wine. “Just need to be patient. You Wolfpack boys are so impulsive.”

They drink in silence, Jonas trying to force himself to ignore the ever-so-slight sting from where the Spider’s needle touched his chest. Finally he notices Artemis beckoning from the door, he drops a few coins on the bar from his dwindling supply, and leaves. Outside, Artemis and Wilhelm carry the same trolley they used to transport the ‘gas, only now, the Widowgas is gone. In it’s place, is a massive barrel of ale.

Or something that looks like a barrel of ale, to the casual observer.

Lily steps out behind him, and gives him a grin.

“Good work,” he says. “Let’s get off this bloody rock.”

* * *

Zacharias Mudge exits the prison cell into a city in shambles. Roots have broken through walls and pushed through buildings. Roads are cracked, stones broken. Teams of people in uniform organize evacuation and removal of those deadly Mournflowers, which Mudge can see springing up in their hundreds from the deep stygian roots.

He sets his gaze to the colossal warship, the Wrathhowl - which rises amid a flurry of smaller ships - from the docks. He begins to run.

He skirts past empty shops, broken windows, and quiet houses. It’s unnerving, but it’s way above his pay-grade.

Instead, he watches the crowd, and good thing to, because as he draws nearer the docks, he sees a small contingent of emerald-coated officers led by someone he quickly recognizes as Perspicacious Shrew. He makes a quick turn and ducks behind a building, his back up against the wood. He breathes slowly, counting the seconds. They didn’t see him.

“Thought I recognized you, Mister Mudge,” Shrew says as he steps into view around the corner of the alley. “I think I expected this, a man with as much apparent knowledge of jail cells must surely be practiced at escaping them. Now tell me, did you hurt my lieutenant?”

“Of course not,” Mudge replies, feigning offense. “I’m not a monster!”

“Mmhmm.” Shrew pauses, then gestures back down the road. “They’ll come check on me if I’m not back soon. I told them there was no threat, but they’ll be waiting.”

“No threat?”

“Are you a threat?”

Mudge considers the Singer slowly. “I don’t want to be.”

“No, and oddly enough, I believe you.” Shrew smiles, and Mudge finds himself smiling back.

“What’s happening out there?”

“Faerie warning shot, near as I can figure,” Shrew says, raking fingers through his hair. “Retaliation for the explosions. They assume it was us. If I were you, I’d get out of Lincoln. Get off Evergreen if you can, this isn’t going to settle down easy.”

“Look, maybe I can do something to help. We’re not incapable, much as it might seem.”

“Really?” Shrew thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. “No, you need to get out of this. You say you’re innocent, and Seth’s tears, I believe you. But, powerful people are going to be looking for a reason, or at least someone to blame… and a privateer crew, from off-shard, with one of those emeralds. Not to mention your proclivity for escaping from prisons.” Shrew smiles, though there’s a bitterness to it. “Either way, I’m letting you go. I trust you, and maybe that makes me Nox’s Seventh Fool, I haven’t checked in with your crew, haven’t verified anything…” He sighs. “Run. It might take a day or two, with the city like this, but eventually the chain of command is going to tighten and we’ll have to look for you. And it won’t just be us, you’ve seen our guests from the Table overhead. They’ll be eager to have something to hunt.”

“Why tell me this?” Mudge asks. “Why not take me in?”

“You’re not behind this, and I’d rather give you the chance to get out. If whoever did do this thinks they’re in the clear, maybe they’ll screw up. I’ll be watching. If you do find any news, send a messenger my way, but don’t come back to Lincoln.”

Mudge nods resolutely, then offers his hand. Tattoos of his own wild designs trace up the backs of his palms. Shrew looks him up and down, then steps closer, grasping his hand.

“Good luck,” they both speak at the same time, and share an awkward grin.

“You’re a pretty good egg,” Mudge says, squeezing Shrew’s hand.

Perspicacious grins. “I guess I’ll take that as a compliment,” he says, stepping back. “You’re not so bad yourself, for a pirate.” He gives a short bow. “Now, wait here, I’ll give you a clear run to the docks. Just wait a few minutes.” Then he slips around the corner.

Mudge waits, then pokes his head out, he checks both ways, then ducks out into the fading light and makes for home.

* * *

“Izaac Everwright…” Erin murmurs. She’s sitting up, but her face has taken on an ashen hue. “Swear I’ve heard that name before.”

“B-b-but-”

“Hush for now Rico, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out. One problem at a time.”

“What should we do, Captain?” Molly asks.

“I think we should be getting out of here smartly,” Thunder responds, glancing up at Molly. “And don’t ask again.”

“Wouldn’t help us get out of here any quicker anyway,” Molly says.

“Look, Molly, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this.”

“About me looking at your parts?”

“About your attitude. You’re practically my adopted daughter, and we throw around the word, but this isn’t a family. It’s a crew, and it obscures my authority when you talk back like that. I thought making you an officer would help to instill a bit more responsibility in you.”

“Am I really an officer though?” Molly asks, a bitter twist to her lips. “I’m the engineer, sure. I make the ship go. But where are all the other officers? Jonas is leading them on a ridiculous heist. Mudge is in prison. I’m here with you, and Kendra, sure. But they don’t see me as one of them, I just point the ship where you tell me and- and- babysit Rico!”

“Molly.” Thunder sighs, a soft sound compared to her normal rumble. “If you start acting like someone deserving of respect and responsibility, they’ll give it to you.”

“Oh, and is that how you got yours? Or did you take it?”

Thunder purses her lips, before a shout from the deck interrupts them.

“That’s Mudge!” Thunder says. “Molly, give me a hand. We’ll continue this little chat later.”

“Can’t wait,” Molly says, rolling her eyes.

Mudge is already on deck by the time Molly gets the Captain onto her crutches and out of the cabin. He watches as the crew, diligent and well-trained to a fault, completely stop their busy-work patching the hull and come to stand around him with a chorus of cheerful greetings and 'Knew you could do it’s. Mudge is the eye of a small storm of well wishes, with the winds slowly dying off under the building click-clack of Thunder’s guided footsteps.

“Captain!” Mudge roars, an amiable grin on his face. “You look terrible!”

Thunders lips twists. One must always put on a show for the crew. “As long as I’m still looking better than you, I don’t think I’ve anything to worry about.”

Molly sniffs. “So this is okay, but when I do it-”

“First Mate, report!” Thunder snaps, cutting across Molly’s complaint.

“Aye Captain!” Mudge salutes immediately. “Incarcerated by Perspicacious Shrew at the Guard House you can just make out on the top of that there hill. He took decent care of me, and I gave him the bare bones of our operation at the waterfall in return for food, which I believe was a fair trade. He believed we were innocent of crimes against Evergreen which means I guess he wasn’t on board long enough to smell you ragged lot.” Mudge waves a hand over his nose, eyes flashing, before sobering up. “Unfortunately, it seems we’ve stumbled into a bloody hornets nest that’s being kicked between the Faerie and whosoever got their hands on those emeralds before us. They were looking for a scapegoat and I’d never felt so woolly, so being of sound mind and clear intent I escaped in the chaos. Shrew apprehended me on the streets but let me go with his encouragement that we get out of here." There is a brief rolling chuckle across the crew as Mudge flourishes. “What can I say, I’m just that good.”

“What’s the situation in town? The docks are a hornets nest of their own.”

“Looks like a Faerie attack. Warning shot, there’s Mournflower blooming up and down the city streets so they’re clearing the affected areas. I think we’d be wise to take our chance now and get gone while the goings good. How’s our baby?”

“Our?”

“How’s The Kingfisher?”

“She’s in better shape than her Captain,” Thunder responds, “and neither of us have any ‘gas in the tank.”

“Well that’s about to change.” Mudge and Thunder both look around, surprised, as Lily appears out from the shadow behind the gunwale. She cracks a smile, scraping her long fingernails together.

“Looks like we’ve got ourselves a regular old family reunion,” she says. “I was wondering if any of you big strong folk wouldn’t mind giving us a hand. We come bearing gifts.”