The First Leads...
By: Drakin
It took a while, but slowly Mila's headache began to clear. Slowly she stood and made for the stairs to the deck, pausing only briefly to check herself in the mirror.
She was the same tan furred, brown haired feline she'd always been. Her blue cloth cap pulled snug down between her ears and her simple cloth outfit were both still damp from the sea water, but they were beginning to dry and become stiff. Her first instinct was to just change clothes, but then a wave of depression hit Mina as she remembered her ship had sunk. All she had in the world were the clothes on her back.
Heaving a sigh she stepped out onto deck... and immediately bumped into someone.
"Oof. Oh! Oh I'm sorry!" she muttered looking around.
"I-It's fine really. Glad to see you're up." Looking down Mila was surprised to see a small corgi in a large red hat and coat clutching what looked to be several charts. "My name's Leeko it's nice to meet you, Miss...?"
"Mila," the feline replied with a soft smile, "And it's nice to meet you too. Though you don't seem like the pirate type.
"Just because I'm not tall or strong or brave..." the canine sighed and Mila immediately regretted her words. Clearly this was a sore subject, "It's fine. I'm not really. Truth be told I was a spice merchant too. But I wasn't very good at it. Darius picked me up after one rather disastrous run and took me on. Since I couldn't rig sails or do any heavy lifting, he decided I should be Cartographer. I mean, I admit I'm good at reading maps, but... that's about all I'm good at."
"Oh don't sell yourself... erm, short," Mila blushed at her unintentional pun, "I'm sure there's lots you can do, Leeko."
"Eh, I don't worry about it really," the corgi shrugged, "It's not the best life, but I'm being helpful, so that's something at least."
Mila wanted to reassure him that he could do more but a polite cough interjected as Darius stepped down from the Poop Deck. "Mila, could I see you in my cabin please?"
Leeko just smiled and waved her off as he disappeared below decks. "O-Of course sir," the feline replied following him inside.
The captain's cabin was quite the treasure-trove of items. Charts hung on the wall, there was a wardrobe filled with clothes, a table was laden with a number of strange objects, some with gems encrusted into their sides.
"Impressive isn't it?" Darius chuckled seeing Mila's shocked expression.
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised," Mila muttered, "I mean, you are pirates after all."
Darius sighed as if he was tired of explaining himself, which he was, "We're not Pirates Mila. As I said, we don't just take what we want."
"Are you saying you bought all this?" Mila asked skeptically folding her arms and raising an eyebrow as Darius shifted a little uncomfortably.
"It's... no, not really. but we didn't just shoot at ships, plunder their goods, raid homes and kill anyone that got in our way. We're treasure hunters and all of this was 'acquired' without harming anyone."
"Fine, fine," Mila backed off, clearly it was a little bit of a touchy subject, "They are lovely though. You could live well off the money from a lot of these trinkets."
"Perhaps," Darious gave a more gentile smile, "But I wouldn't want to part with them. Each item here has a story behind it. An adventure we've been through." He picked up a rather plane looking gold hoop earring, "This one is from when we brought Morgana on board."
"How she ended up with us is... difficult to explain. Suffice it to say we rescued her much the same as we rescued you. We had some strong differences of opinion when she started. She was ready to take off first chance she got. But she claimed she wouldn't leave without her most important possession. You've noticed she wears the other earring all the time right? This is the other."
"But couldn't she just come in here and steal it back?" Mila asked confused, to which Darius just smiled.
"Mila, she {i}gave{/i} it to me. She wanted an excuse to stay on, so I let her have one. I think she feels she owes me for saving her life."
"Then why not give it back to her?" Mila asked, confused, "She seems like she's on your side now."
"Maybe, but don't you see? The earring is a symbol. She gave a piece of herself to me. If I gave it back it would be saying we didn't need her anymore."
Mila bit her lip. She sort of understood what Darius meant, but it still didn't add up. It felt like there was more to it than what Darius said.
"Anyway," the canine sighed, "I called you in here because we're going to put in to port in a few hours. I want you to come with us when we go into town. There's a local tavern that might have clues about where we could find one or more of the coins. We need everyone we can asking about them. Maybe someone will talk."
"I'm not sure if I'll find anything," Mila noted, "But I'll do my best."
==========
Mila's 'best' was admirable, but as it turned out most of the patrons of the tavern came in two flavors: Surly and drunk or depressed and drunk. And getting info out of either was like dentistry. Either Mila was pulling teeth trying to get them to talk or afraid of losing her teeth when they got mad.
Sighing she looked around at the group. Morgana was engaged in a card game with a portly red dragon. Leeko seemed to be torn on whether to buy a fifth beer for the skink lizard he'd been trying to get info from, and Darius was nowhere to be seen.
Mila sat in the corner of the bar, taking a break from trying to get information and kicked her heals lightly against the cobblestone floor. A wave of exhaustion washed over her as she looked around. Maybe the whole venture was pointless? After all they'd found her one coin, but what was the chance of them finding another so soon after? The idea that the quest could take months or even years settled into her mind like a heavy weight and, despite almost never doing such things, Mila ordered a large beer from the barkeep.
"Lost your way sweetheart?" the bartender, a somewhat hefty red fox with a short white beard on his jawline asked, "I've seen plenty of them. All sitting right where you are now. had to drag most out to the street when they couldn't pay their tab and didn't want to leave."
"Well I won't be here long," Mila sighed, "I just feel like this has all been a waste of time."
"Looking for treasure huh?" the fox smiled as she tried to gauge him, "Relax, I get them all the time. Mercenaries, adventurers, bounty hunters, pirates even. Always looking for some treasure. I don't mind, keeps me and my daughter in business." he nodded to the tan furred canine waiting tables.
"Adopted before you ask," the bartender replied as he set down Mila's beer, "But I love her just the same. So, maybe I can help you out?"
"No offence sir, but I doubt it," Mila sighed fingering her necklace, "We're looking for coins like this one."
"Coins with an inscription on them?" Mila's ears perked up as she looked at the bartender, "Relax. I'm not interested, but I did hear something about a coin like that. There's a dangerous coastline not far from here. The rocks are treacherous. Sail in at high tide and your ship will be torn to pieces. At low tide the rocks become a slippery maze of sinkholes and jagged edges. There's supposed to be one spot where you can get in, but only my daughter knows where it is. And good-luck getting her to talk."
Excited Mila thanked him and ran back to the group, Darious had reconvened everyone at a table near the back wall. "I've got a lead!" she beamed.
"Our luck grows," Darius smiled, Leeko and Morgana found ones too."
"Really?" Mila blinked, "All three of us?"
"It's as I said," Darius nodded sagely, "The coins are drawing us together. What's your lead Mila?"
She explained about the rocky coastline, to which Morgana just snorted, "Sounds crazy to me."
"Well what's yours?" Mila asked, genuinely curious. Morgana just blushed a little in response.
"Rumor is there's bakery in the next town over. Their products have been suspiciously good for the last few years. Oddly enough, they were on the verge of going out of business when the food just suddenly improved. Locals even claim it's 'perfect' somehow."
"Sounds magical to me," Darius nodded and turned to the remaining crew-member, "Leeko?"
"Umm, well the guy I talked to said there was a temple some ways south where they worship beauty as the ultimate goal. The guy said he saw something that looked like the coin on a statue in their temple."
"Three promising leads. So which one should we take?"
Mila realized with some shock everyone was looking at her. "What, me? Why do I need to pick?"
"Want me to spell it out?" Morgana huffed, "If Darius picks we fall in behind him so his vote doesn't count, and between the rest of us voting for our own leads it's a three way tie. And Darius already gave me an ultimatum about bulling Leeko. So it's your call to break the deadlock."
Mila bit her lip uncertainly.
Choice one: Mila says they should follow her idea. The coast may be tricky but if they can get the info they can land safely. (coin of unknown effects)
Choice two: Follow Morganas plan. a Bakery sounds much easier to get the coin from. And maybe they can get some good food too. (Coin of Weight Gain/Fattening)
Choice three: Follow Leeko's lead. A temple is an odd place, but it would certainly be adventurous to explore. (Coin of Beaufy/Gender change)