A Disaster of Fugitives - an MCYT D&D AU fanfiction

16: Martyn

DEFINITELY DIDN'T PUBLISH CHAPTER 17 FIRST NOOOOO

Will he be ok?' I ask, breaking the silence the ship's cabin had been left in since we entered.

'Who? Cub or Scar?'

'Both. But... More Scar. He was really out of it.'

'Of course he is. He's been hurt by that idiot Hels...' Growls Doc. 'The same idiot who...' A pause. 'Who got Beef killed.'

'What? Dude...' Ren's eyes widen next to me. 'How- when? Why didn't you say earlier?!'

'Because I thought it was better to focus on getting Scar back.'

'Damn... What happened?'

'He...' Doc sits on the edge of his bed, staring at the ground. 'He led us into a dragon's cave and abandoned us. I don't know why. I don't know what we did to him. Got my face. Nearly got Etho. Killed Beef. Split up the group. Took the money and ran. Stupid criminal... Sadistic murderer.'

The door crashes open, then closed. Cub's there, sinking to the ground, keeping it closed. Frantic knocking.

'CUB LET ME IN!' Scar. I'm on my feet. 'CUB WHAT HAPPENED? WHEN DID- WHEN DID THEY...'

'What happened?' He doesn't answer, head buried in his knees just blocking the door. The knocking stops. I sit next to him.

'Cub what happened?'

'I need to tell you something.' He murmurs, looking up at last. 'All of you.'

'What is it?'

'They got me before.'

'Who? Not-'

'The True Vengeance got me before.' Cub confirms. 'They wanted payment. When they took... When they took Scar before I had to promise to help them with something.'

'They came back for your help?'

A nod.

'And I didn't do what they wanted. But they threatened to... To hurt Scar... Again... If I didn't.' Cub's terror at the docks makes sense.

'You ran away with us?'

'I thought if I was with him I could keep him safe. I should've just- just done what they wanted. Everything would be better.'

'They're monsters. They don't deserve what they want.' I nod at Doc's comment.

'There was nothing you could've done.'

'I'm sorry.' I put an arm around Cub's shoulder as he starts crying. Ren's quick to join us. Doc just stands across the room, trident in hand. Scott's next to him, arms crossed.

'I didn't think it'd- I know they do shady stuff but... But not this level. Hurting people. Threats.'

'We should've blown up the ship while we had the chance.' Doc mutters. I nod in agreement.

'They're not getting away with this.'

'Wait, dude... they're not even after the egg then. If they're trying to punish you... That's... That's not on!'

'They'll be after us again then. Whatever you said about the egg. If they don't even care about it.'

'What... Even happened with that? I was too busy kicking EX in the unmentionables to see.'

'I lied about the egg to True so she'd let us go. Scar and Martyn. But she's only going to be after me now. Not any of you.'

'We're not letting her kill you, dude.'

'Damn right we're not.' 

'We're blowing up their ship next time.' 

'I've got some pent up sibling rivalry to deal with.' Cub smiles at everyone's (correct) decision to protect him. I smile too.

'Come on. Tonight we're celebrating getting Scar back. We can continue hunting for the egg tomorrow.' I stand, helping Cub up. His optimism fades slightly.

'I left Scar outside. I was scared of... of how he'd react.' 

'Tell him now. Then we all gather... me and Ren can play a few songs. Scott can find some drinks...'

'I'm not giving you any drinks except water.' Scott interrupts. 

'Worth a shot... we believe in you Cub. Scar won't hate you.'

'He'll pity me. He'll pretend I'm not to blame. He'll blame himself instead. For... disappearing.' 

'If you want one of us to come with you, dude, we can. For... emotional support...'

'He'd prefer it alone... but thanks. I just... we'll tell you when we're done. So we can celebrate.'

'Good luck.'

With one last weak smile, Cub leaves the cabin, closing the door behind. 

It's sunset by the time we're all happy and gathered on the main deck. Even Joey joins in, Lizzie didn't want to go too far from home and have to swim back. And, while I can still see lyrics, me and Ren start with a few songs.

'We're going to the Empire, we're going to the Empire, we're going tooooo the Empire!' I modify an older song and sing. By the 3 chorus everyone's joining in. Scar's sat as close to Cub as he can, but even he's joining in the party atmosphere, singing and laughing along. Scott does bring out sensible amounts of some fancier drinks than just water we can enjoy. 

'What's the craziest creature any of us have interacted with?' The triton begins the storytelling section of our party with. I glance at Doc, knowing what he said about the dragon. Beef. 

'I met a dragon. Didn't end well.' Is all he explains. 'A proper red dragon too.'

'Tell everyone about the goat again, Martyn.' Ren goads.

'I met a manticore, I'll have you know.' I shoot back. 'In the mountains. The road we were told to take, as it happened, did not lead to the Dwarven Kingdom.'

'Oh yeah! Didn't you try to fight it?'

'A couple cantrips, but I'm not stupid. We ran away before it could do more damage that we did to it.'

'Me and Scar...' Cub glances across at his friend. 'Was it a chimera we saw?'

'A chimera? No way, dudes I don't believe you.'

'It was definitely a chimera.'

'Mimic at most.' Scott agrees. 'There's no chance. They're really rare.'

'We saw something that looked a lot like a chimera.' Cub corrects. 

'That was definitely a chimera.' Argues Scar. 'It had everything a chimera has...'

'Anyhoozle, what did you do with it?'

'Ran away. Scar threw something at it, but we ran.'

'Anyone actually fought what they saw?'

'Fought a Seadragon.' Scott improves our experience with creatures by saying. 'Nearly died. This right here came from it.' He shows off a rather impressive scar right down his front. 'But I survived!'

'Damn...' The sun's down already, but we still chat for another hour or so before settling down to sleep.